July, 2024

Sally Jackson was a very proud Grandma.

Percy and Annabeth had given her the kids for the entire day, and she wanted to do as much as she could with them. She only really got to see them in the summers, after all, and they were growing so fast that she could hardly keep up. Olivia was already seven, and Bobby now a chubby three-year-old. Sally loved both of them to death, just as a Grandma should.

They had spent the entire morning at the aquarium, which she knew was an exciting treat for both of them. Olivia spent most of the time underneath the glass tunnel with Paul, where she spoke chipperly to the bigger fish and sharks in the round tank. Whether or not the fish knew what she was saying was unclear- but she certainly enjoyed it. Sally was with Bobby at the hands-on exhibit, where the toddler found great joy in continuously poking the sea enenemi and petting the manta rays.

Now the four of them were back home eating blue chocolate chip cookies that Sally baked special for her grandchildren. Paul relaxed in his chair reading the newspaper while Sally happily watched the kids playing on the floor. Olivia was trying to show Bobby how to use the abacus she had gotten for the holidays.

"See, Bobby, that says ten," the girl pointed to the beads on the top bar. "Now if I take away three," she pushed three beads to the right, "how many beads are left?"

"Beads!" Bobby exclaimed in response.

"No, you have to count them," his sister reminded him. "Like this: one..." she pointed, "two... three..."

"Four!" The little boy said.

"Yeah!" Livy praised him. "What comes after four?"

The toddler held up his fingers and began counting them in a singsong voice. "One two free four fie si' seven nine ten..." He laughed and pushed the colored beads back and forth on the wooden bars.

"No!" The older girl fell to the floor in defeat. "Bobby it's not that hard!"

Oblivious to his sister's aggravation, the boy started singing the colors of the rainbow song as well.

"Olivia he's only three," Sally smiled at her granddaughter's attempt. "He will learn addition and subtraction eventually."

"I love addition and subtraction!" She rolled onto her stomach. "Gramma which is your favorite?"

"Hm," Sally thought. "I like addition best," she decided. "Addition means more cookies," she held out the plate for Olivia to take another one.

The girl put a cookie in her mouth and giggled. "Me too," she agreed. "Gramma why is the ocean blue?"

"I believe it's because the water reflects the sky."

"Why is the sky blue?"

"That's a good question. It probably has to do with how light works."

"Why is there light?"

Sally laughed. "Oh, Livy. You'll have to ask someone who knows more about science than I do."

"Grampa do you know?" The girl tried.

Paul put down his paper and thought for a moment. "Have you learned anything about how light works in school?"

Olivia shook her head.

"Light travels in waves, just like water."

"It does?" Her eyebrows shot up in disbelief. She squinted up at the ceiling light. "But I don't see any waves!"

"That's because light travels so fast that you can't see them."

"But then how do you know that they are there?"

"Scientists use special machines that are able to detect what we can't see," Paul answered. "Light travels in waves, and the waves are different sizes. That's how you know that the beads on the top of the abacus are blue, but the ones on the bottom are red."

"Because red waves are different from blue waves?"

"Exactly," Paul said. "So the light waves that travel from the sun hit the atmosphere and turn into blue waves."

"That's so weird!" Olivia smiled. "Zeus's favorite color must be blue," she decided. "Just like mine!"

"Bwue!" Bobby shouted, collapsing onto his sister's back. He wrapped his arms around her neck, a floppy foam sword in his hand. "Ho'sy, Livy! Giddyup!"

Olivia gave a compliant whinny and playfully galloped around the room on all fours. "Bobby help!" She exclaimed. "The Minotaur is going to eat me!"

"Bad Mintar!" Bobby shouted, waving his sword into the air. He leaped off his sister's back and rolled onto the floor. While Bobby wildly rolled and swung his sword at the imaginary monster, Olivia waved her hands in the air and whinnied, pretending to fight as well.

Sally smiled. By the time their parents arrived to pick them up, the two siblings had successfully defeated the Minotaur and five other monsters, while still managing to finish all of their grandmother's cookies.