"There goes my life.
There goes my future, my everything.
Might as well kiss it all good-bye.
There goes my life...
A couple years of up all night and a few thousand diapers later.
That mistake he thought he made covers up the refrigerator.
Oh yeah...he loves that little girl."
Kenny Chesney, "There Goes My Life"
A/N: Quote from I'm Only Human (the first chapter) told in Percy's POV: We named our daughter the Greek word for sunrise, ανατολή, Anatolí in English. We called her Ana. When she grew into her shiny personality, I called her 'my little sunshine' because the sun seemed to reflect in her sea-green eyes. When she was sad her curly blond hair hid her face and those teary green eyes looked like a cloud covering the sun on a rainy day. Hope that helped refresh your memory in case this chapter confuses you.
Percy's POV
When I found out Annabeth was pregnant it was one of the best days of my life. Sure, there was a huge part of me that was flipping out and panicking, but I still was overjoyed, even if I was a little overwhelmed. The months leading up to the birth was a learning process for the both of us.
I was lenient for most of the time, I understood that the hormones would cause Annabeth to be crabby and disagreeable. Whenever I was at my wit's end, I just thought of having a beautiful baby girl or boy in my arms and I couldn't stay mad.
It was hard sometimes. Some days I had trouble finding a reason to get up in the morning. I always scraped by, somehow managing to be a loving husband through this nightmare. I remember my daughter's birth like it was only yesterday.
Proactive Annabeth of course had a birth plan months before. She had the bags packed, the car always had gas in it, and a number of other things were always in order at any given time. I remember Annabeth waking me up in the middle of the night. It was a summer day in July. The window was open, letting in a cool breeze and washing Annabeth's tight face in moonlight.
"Percy!" she whispered harshly in my ear, shaking my shoulder. Her grip tightened as she had another contraction. Her breaths were forced pants, and by this time I was fully up.
"Annabeth. Is it time? Gods, why didn't you wake me earlier?" I ask her, her contraction ending. She looks up at me, her eyes watering slightly, and nods her head.
"That was my first contraction." She told me as she jumped out of bed, getting half of the bags that we needed for the hospital. We had already decided long ago that me trying to home deliver a baby probably wouldn't be a good idea. It would be such a horrible idea, that Annabeth planned to get to the hospital as soon as she started feeling pains.
If we hadn't gone to those boring, but necessary, birth/baby classes, I would have been really confused about Annabeth's suddenly endless supply of energy. In the early part of the first stage of labor the mother is usually restless and excited, I think.
I grab the bags as well as both our phones, the car keys and her regular purse plus my wallet from the kitchen counter. I walk out of the door of our house, which we're still trying to completely pay for, the crickets buzzing in our suburban neighborhood.
Annabeth is gradually slowing down, for one brief second I'm worried she won't make it to the car. Her "short burst of energy" must be wearing off, or something like that. I can almost smile when I think of how early it is still, that Annabeth we be at least semi comfortable in the hospital.
Five minutes into the drive, Annabeth has another contraction, squeezing my right hand lightly, me being fully glad that I don't drive a stick shift. I hold Annabeth's hand the whole way there, trying to seem collected, only allowing myself to chew on my lip. I estimate that her contractions were somewhere around twenty minutes apart, which is right where her's should be.
"Annabeth, how come your water didn't break?" I ask her when she let's go of my slightly sweaty hand, taping on the door in an erratic beat in another burst of energy.
"Well, our baby here was due a couple of days ago, and women's waters don't always have to break to have their baby." She told me wisely. I node my head, informing her that it would only take five more minutes and we would be at the hospital.
"We can call everybody there, while you're still up to it." I suggest to Annabeth, she nods as she gazes out the window at the calm and quiet night. It almost feels like the lull, the calm, before the storm. The eye of the hurricane.
"Hey Annabeth... Have you thought about... a name? For the baby?... The girl, I mean..." I tell her hesitantly. I had asked her before and she had gotten all touchy and moody.
"What do you think would be a beautiful girl's name, Annabeth?" I asked her with a goofy grin on my face, rubbing her stomach gently. She suddenly pulls away from my embrace.
"How am I -we- suppose to name my -sorry our- daughter when I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT SHE LOOKS LIKE?! " She screamed at me, passionate and standing directly in front of me. The first thought that crossed my mind was the she made sure to include me and not just herself in anything related to our future daughter, even when she was mad.
It then occurred to me that she was mad for no apparent reason. I put my hands up in defeat. Sometimes I just have to choose my battles.
So of course I really actually avoided that conversation, putting trust in Annabeth that she would remember. When I found myself pondering over it and dying to ask her, I reminded myself that I might press the wrong button or pull a trigger or what ever.
"Oh my Gods! Seriously?! I FORGOT to name my daughter?!" Annabeth squeaked out, turning silent as she searched her memory.
"I fought with you because I didn't want to name someone Jamie when they really looked like a Katherine, didn't I?" She said softly, I mutely nodded back, still a little scared about how she would react.
"I'm sorry Percy, that was rather pointless and quite lacking in... well... actual thought..." Annabeth told me, I could see her grimacing out of the corner of my eye. I shake my head slowly.
"It's fine." I tell her, and suddenly we're on the road to the hospital and I can see it in the distance. Annabeth starts gripping my arm more forcefully.
"They're getting worse." She says through clenched teeth, "maybe eighteen minutes apart, though their not horrible." She admits as her frame relaxes when the contraction ends.
We arrive at the hospital, checking in and being informed that Annabeth's doctor was in fact available. Annabeth gets brought a wheelchair to help get her off her feet, instructing me to "tell all the relatives" as she gets guided by the nurse to her room, getting hooked up to machines and changing into hospital gowns and whatever else.
Most of our friends from Camp Half Blood sound really tired, but I guess their coming... slowly that is. Annabeth's dad started sounding really nervous, while my mom was squealing, rushing for the car and screaming at Paul to "move it or acquire his own means of transportation".
I shook my head at my mom, checking everybody off my mental list of who I had to call. I walked up to the desk and asked what room Annabeth was in.
Annabeth's POV
The day my gorgeous daughter was born was both the best and worst day of my life. For one thing, it looked like our family was going to grow a little bit bigger, but on the other hand, well, labor sucks.
An hour in to labor, and my contractions were still short and roughly seventeen minutes apart.
"Percy?" I ask him as he walks back in the room, after greeting Hazel and Frank who traveled all the way from Camp Jupiter, with the help of Nico's shadow travel of course.
"Yes Annabeth?" He asked me quietly. "Oh and by the way, Jason, Piper, Leo and Calypso are all on their way from Camp Half Blood." He told me, ticking each person off on his fingers. I still smile when I think about Leo and Calypso. I nod my head, clearing my throat and look deeply into his eyes.
"Percy, I want to name our daughter in Greek." I tell him solemnly, his eyebrows moving up slightly.
"I mean, find a Greek word that describes her, shorten it or tweak the word in English to make it sound like an American name. Then we could teach her how to write and say her shortened American as well as her Greek name in English, then she'll learn the actual Greek name when she grows a little older." I say in a rush, suddenly hating the look of confusion in Percy's eyes.
Finally it slowly dawned on him what I was talking about, he slowly nodded and hugged me tightly, though not too tight. He sat on the hospital bed, wrapping his arms around me and burying his head in my hair, smiling and breathing in the faded scent of my shampoo.
It had been thirteen hours since I had first woken up, all of Percy and I's camp friends waiting patiently outside the room, as well as my dad and Paul. Percy was sitting in a chair to my right holding my right hand, grimacing every time I had another contraction. I swear to the gods I wasn't trying to grind his knuckles together. Sally, Percy's mom, was in the chair to my left, instructing me on my breathing.
I was almost ten centimeters dilated, my legs were trembling and I couldn't decide whether I wanted a fan or a sweater.
Dr. Patricia, my obstetrician, was in front of my legs, and the contractions were consistent now.
"You're going to do you first push, okay Annabeth?" asked me, Percy measuring his breathing to guide me in the right direction. So I pushed with all of my might when I was instructed to, keeping my breathes in check as much as I could.
Sally was rubbing my back comfortably, talking in a soothing voice, anchoring me to the Earth.
No words could describe the feeling I felt when the nurse handed me my baby girl, Percy kissing my cheek and his mom holding my hand. My beautiful baby girl was born on July 21st.
A/N: So you may have noticed that I mentioned Leo and Calypso in this chapter, reason being I'm going to base their relationship on my story "Caleo: A Promise Kept" (Caleo is the couple's combined name). Please read my story, just click on my profile! It talks all about how Leo and Calypso both finally get the "happy ending" they deserve.
A/N#2: Yes, I did mean to stop there. The birth of Percy and Annabeth's child is going to be a two-parter! The next chapter will be Brown-Eyed Beauty, and will have all the mushy details.
A/N#3: So I'm thinking I might write a little story on Percy and Annabeth's wedding, called "Wind-Carried Vows". It would be on my profile and it would be maybe a little shorter than this chapter. I'll probably write it no matter what, but I won't post it if no one asks for it! So review or pm and tell me!