Chapter IV
Leo sat her in her bouncy seat while Elmo played on the TV. Frank was in the kitchen cooking, his bow and quiver on his back, Jason was in the shower, and Percy was being Percy – watching Elmo with Rose.
Rose sat there for a minute or two until she found Elmo annoying. She blinked and the channel changed to Law and Order SVU. When they said "baby killer" she blinked again, changing the channel to NCIS and then to Bones.
The kitchen was connected to the den, so Frank saw everything. His mouth fell open and Percy slowly turned around, wide eyed.
"She likes murder mysteries," Percy said. "Wow."
A few minutes later, it went off and Jason came out shirtless and in pajama pants. Rose yawned and looked at him with a sarcastic look. Leo came upstairs, covered in motor oil and grinning like a lunatic.
"I did it!" he said. "Why are you guys watching Bones?"
Percy shrugged. "She did it."
Leo raised an eyebrow, but continued on with his story. "I fixed the boat long enough for us to get to Long Island, and I put it on Auto-Pilot so it will take all night to get there. And," Leo looked at his watch "considering it's 9:30, should we lay her down?"
Rose yawned again and then looked tired. She stretched her arms and Percy picked her up, since Leo was covered in motor oil. Percy laid her down in her bed, tucked her in with a pink fuzzy blanket, turned on the baby monitor, and then turned the lights out and closed the door, leaving.
He handed the baby monitor to Leo and he went to bed. Jason and Frank followed behind him, except Frank was eating a sandwich as he left, calling him "Mr. Mom".
Leo sighed and walked into the bathroom. He set the baby monitor on the counter and hopped in, scrubbing the motor oil off of him with Dawn Dish Detergent (don't laugh, it works), but the one with the penguin on the cover, because Frank had insisted on getting the penguin and the ducky ones.
Once he got out, he thought about going into his bedroom, but the couch was closer and he had been up since four this morning, so he was drained. He grabbed his pillow and a blanket and laid down on the couch the baby monitor still on. He attempted to watch TV, but he ended up drifting off to sleep.
Silently, Hermes opened the door to his baby girls room. He turned the monitor off, because Leo was sound asleep, snoring and he didn't want anyone to hear him.
Rose wasn't asleep; she was looking around. When she saw him, she smiled. It was about 11:45 now, and he knew he didn't have long. He picked her up and held her, sitting down in a soft chair. She closed her eyes and laid on his chest, still wrapped in the blanket. He whispered to her and hummed to her, getting her back to sleep, when his caduceus rattled in his pocket.
Boss! George whispered in his head. Twelve O'Clock in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…
Then, instead of a three month old, Hermes was holding a three year old toddler in a blue Snow White gown with long curly strawberry blonde hair, snuggled against her daddy.
Hermes snapped and instead of a baby room, it changed into something more toddler-ish. Her crib was now a bed, and he sighed. Hermes brushed her tangled hair back with his hand and kissed her forehead. He stood up and laid her down under the covers and tucked her in.
Hermes whispered in her ear and whispered, "Sweet dreams, baby girl."
And then he disappeared.
Aw, Martha said. She's so cute!
I'm not gonna cry, George said. I'm not gonna cry! He sniffled.