This chapter is completely unedited, short, and not all that interesting.
"Aries, come sit!" Sally called.
"Ah ah!" He screamed in response.
Percy let out a little chuckle at his son's antics, which made his mother grin at him.
"Sit, sit, sit," Annabeth repeated as she walked toward the table.
"Yes, sit, sit, sit," Aries, who was trailing behind her, agreed.
"Come here, boy," Percy said as he scooped his son into his arms.
Aries shrieked and giggled at his father.
Percy swung him onto his shoulders and walked toward Sally. He pulled her stool out for her and offered her his arm to lean on. She swatted it away.
Percy set his son on the ground to play with his grandmother.
Percy turned back toward the Graecis to see Annabeth helping Ianthe into a chair and Will trying to get all the boys to stay still. Nemarte was watching Annabeth and Ianthe, her hands on her hips and her mouth in a firm line. She was peering over Ianthe at something.
"Would you like some help, Matertera?"
Nemarte turned around, surprise and confusion written on her face.
"Ti?" She asked.
"Um, tea is good, do you like tea?"
Nemarte stared at him blankly for a minute before smiling and patting his cheek, a rather odd look on her face.
Annabeth snickered from behind her grandmother. Nemarte turned around and asked Annabeth something in harsh and rapid Graeci.
Annabeth answered back, sounding defensive. Nemarte smacked her teeth. Annabeth gave her grandmother a command, probably, "sit down," since she pointed to the stool and then Nemarte sat down.
As the old woman sat down her knees buckled and she started to tip backwards. Annabeth yelled something and reached for her, but Percy grabbed Nemarte from behind and gently lowered her down in the chair.
Annabeth rushed toward them and grabbed Nemarte's face with the hand that wasn't holding Hecuba. She said something in Graeci, sounding worried. Nemarte responded and swatted Annabeth's hand away from her face. Then she reached up and smiled at Percy, patting him on the arm. She said something else to Annabeth, her hand slipping down Percy's forearm.
Annabeth didn't respond to her grandmother, instead looking at Percy with unreadable eyes and a soft face.
She mumbled something in Graeci and Nemarte chuckled. Annabeth glared at her and the old woman turned her head away in a "who, me?" manner.
Aries, who had been trailing behind Annabeth since his father put him on the ground, began to curiously trail his fingers over all of Nemarte's wrinkles, scars, calluses, and dark spots. Nemarte grinned at him and asked him something in Graeci. Aries' head shot up as he peered shyly at the old Graeci. He grinned and hooked his pointer finger in his mouth before looking toward Annabeth and giggling, his finger still in his mouth.
Annabeth giggled and scrunched her nose in response before hiking her tunic up just a little and sitting on the stool.
Aries ran (waddled) over to where Annabeth was sitting and peeked over the edge of the table, reaching for a celery stick. Annabeth, who was messing with Hecuba and trying to get her comfortable, noticed his struggle in reaching for the stick and gave it to him, turning back to the baby.
"No!" Aries whined.
Annabeth turned back to him, an eyebrow raised.
"Eat!" Aries urged as he shoved the celery stick in her face.
Annabeth laughed and took the stick from him, looking to Percy for a translation.
"Eat," Percy repeated as he held his fingers and thumb together and touched his mouth repeatedly.
"Eat, yes," Annabeth repeated and took a bite of the celery stick. Then she put it back on the table and went back to adjusting Hecuba.
Aries whined a little and shoved the celery back in Annabeth's face.
She flinched a back a little and looked at the stick in front of her face, giving her a comical double chin and crossed-eyes.
"Annabeth eat," Annabeth said and waved her hand backward over her shoulder like she was talking about something that already happened.
"Now Aries eat," she commanded as she patted the ground.
"Here, Aries, come sit with Tata. Come here," Percy beckoned. Aries giggled at his father, looked shyly up at Annabeth, who had a soft smile on her face, and then waddled over to where his dad was sitting on a couch.
"C'mere, Ari," Percy lifted his son onto his lap.
"Tata eat?" Aries asked, shoving the half eaten celery stick in his father's face.
"Yeah," Percy agreed, "Tata eat. Now Aries needs to eat."
"Avia give Aries dulcis before," Aries admitted.
"Mater!" Percy looked at his mom.
Sally's eyes widened a fraction before she quickly looked back down at her plate and started shoving random bits of food into her mouth.
Aries and Annabeth were laughing from next to Percy, and even he had to crack a smile at his mother's antics.
"Really, Aries, eat your food, it's wasteful for Avia to make all this food and then have nobody eat it," Percy said seriously to his son.
"Yes," Aries agreed, "Eat the food."
Percy nodded and picked up his spoon, starting to shove cut up and baked turnips into his mouth.
Aries would occasionally steel food from his father's plate and eat it, though almost all the food on his own plate went to the dog.
Percy pretended not to notice.
"Caw caw, ca caw caw!"
Percy looked up to see Harley playing with dried dates, holding them above his head and pretending they were birds.
"Harpalos!" Ianthe scolded.
Nemarte snickered behind her hand, earning a glare from Ianthe.
Percy looked over at Annabeth to see her trying to hide her smile by focusing in Hecuba.
"Care to tell me how you ending up bringing seven new helpers home?' Sally asked.
That was one of the things Percy admired most about his mother; she refused to call slaves "slaves." She had always taken on chores herself in an attempt to relieve work from slavs and treated them like they were humans, not possessions. Percy figured that's where his humanity came from.
"No, not really." Percy answered.
"Praetor Perseus has a crush," Will supplied before turning back to his fish.
Sally hummed, a sly look on her face.
"I'm gonna throw your golden-boy ass on the streets," Percy threatened.
"No you're not," Will replied.
Percy wasn't really going to put Will out on the streets, but he could slip toads into his bed.
"That is not what happened," Percy said to his mother.
"Oh?" Sally questioned.
Percy sighed and glanced toward Annabeth, who was cutting up Koinos' fish.
"I was there when my charge burned her house. An old man, her grandfather, uncle, father, whoever...his body was still inside. That woman, Nemarte," Percy nodded his head toward where Nemarte was sitting, "She went back inside, maybe to save the man. Annabeth was being dragged out by a man, most likely her brother."
Annabeth looked up at the mention of her Roman name. Percy waved her off.
"She was screaming and kicking at the man to let her go. She kept yelling the Graeci word for "avia." I thought maybe she was yelling for an object, like a jewelry box or a tapestry. I went inside the house looking for something of value. I found Nemarte on the ground near the man. I ran back out and gave Nemarte to Annabeth. Maybe two minutes later a foot soldier stabbed the back of Annabeth's brother's skull. He had been running with a woman other than Annabeth. She had a baby. Later, I found the women on the ship. Annabeth ran into me while she was wandering the ship. She looked like she needed help. We played a painful game of charades before I realized she needed a doctor for the young woman she was with. I made a deal with Will that if he agreed to go behind Lydus' back with me and help Annabeth and her family that I'd hire him as a physician in my home. He agreed. Still, it wasn't enough. The woman died a couple days later. That baby Annabeth's holding," Percy pointed his spoon at Hecuba, "That's the deceased woman's baby. It would make her Annabeth's niece, I think."
Sally had a solemn look on her face as she stared at Annabeth, who was whisper-yelling at Tark.
"I wish you hadn't told me that," Sally stated before turning back to her food.
Percy signed. He hadn't wanted to stress his mother, but he still felt like she should know the background to the family staying in her home.
"Aries, if you're not going to eat you food just tell me instead of sneaking it to the dog."
Aries smiled sheepishly at his father as he dropped fish skin on the floor.
"Siesta time," Sally said to her grandson.
She stood up and started organizing the table.
All the Graecis immediately looked up at Sally and started following her lead. Will continued to stuff his mouth full of squash.
"Oh, no, you all don't have to do that," Sally said.
Annabeth stared at her blankly while continuing to stacking plates with the hand that wasn't holding Hecuba.
Nemarte said something to her granddaughter, who nodded and gave a short response.
Annabeth started staking as many things as she could on top of each other. Hecuba was slobbering happily on her aunt's collarbone while she dug her tiny fingernails into Annabeth's neck. Percy winced a little at the memory of baby fingernails.
Ianthe busied herself with trying to get the boys under control with the occasional remark from Nemarte. Harpalos immediately began to clean up after himself (which was a rather large mess, since he and Tark tried to build a house out of various fruits and vegetables) the minute his grandmother told him. Tark was standing next to Will, who had called him over for something. The little boy looked relieved to have an excuse to get out of helping his friend clean up their mess.
Koinos was chasing Benny around the table. Actually, more so around Annabeth, who looked mildly frustrated as she yelled at him. Koinos ran off toward Percy, probably at the demand of Annabeth. Benny, of course, followed his playmate, except his path happened to be straight through Annabeth.
Annabeth's knees buckled and she started to fall backwards, not unlike Nemarte had when prandium started. Percy surged forward to catch her. They ended up in a weird position, with Annabeth doing a backbend over Percy's arm while holding Hecuba in er left arm and a large spoon in her right hand.
"AH! Koinos! Koinos! Ela edó!" Annabeth called.
Koinos sheepishly walked back toward Annabeth. The older Graeci lightly smacked his head with the spoon.
Tark and Harpalos snickered from where they were at the opposite end of the table. Nemarte hit them both upside the head, but she had a tiny smile on her face, like she found the whole ordeal amusing. Even Ianthe had her hand up to her face to hide her grin.
Koinos gave Annabeth another sheepish smile. She pulled her lips into a tight frown, but Percy saw the little bit of laughter in her eyes.
Hecuba, who was baffled that the attention was not on her, smacked her aunt's neck with her tiny hand. Annabeth reeled back a little, giving the baby a strange look. Hecuba responded by hitting her aunt in the face.
Nemarte burst out in laughter, as did the boys. Ianthe turned around, but Percy could see her shoulders shake like she was laughing. Percy himself had a little grin on his face.
"Do you think she's hungry? How old is she? Is she still breastfeeding? Who does it? Does she need anything?" Sally started spouting off questions.
Will nodded and translated for Annabeth, who nodded in response and pulled the strap of her tunic down her shoulder.
Hecuba whined at the sight of the breast and threw her head into Annabeth's chest.
Percy laughed and Annabeth alternated between massaging the baby's head and her own sternum where Hecuba had headbutted her.
"Here, Annabeth, sit down," Percy pulled one of the couches closer to her to sit on.
Annabeth hummed in thanks as she sat down.
"Oh, Annabeth's feeding the baby," Sally mussed.
"Yes," Percy answered, "That's why the baby's sucking on h-"
"Shut up, my love."
"Yes ma'am."
Nemarte walked over to her daughters and spoke quietly to Annabeth. She nodded in response.
Nemarte walked back over to where she had been standing next to Ianthe and picked up some of the dishes.
Annabeth watched her and leaned forward, standing a little.
"Ah, ah!" Nemarte snapped at her.
"No, Annabeth, it's okay, we got it, just sit down," Percy rushed toward her and gently pushed her back onto the couch.
Annabeth grinned and said something in Graeci that made every Graeci-speaking person in the room chuckle.
Percy opened his mouth to talk to Annabeth when he was cut off by the sound of footsteps.
Percy had his hand resting on Annabeth's shoulder while Nemarte collected dishes and Sally tried to keep Aries from disturbing Annabeth and the feeding baby when the door to his house opened unceremoniously.
"Sorry! I won't be long, I'm just gonna grab a few- oh. Oh. Percy, love, you're back. How are you? Good? That's good. Anyways, I've just stopping by to grab that old cloth I use for painting. Sally, would you have any idea where I put it?" The redhead that opened the door paused, seemingly just realizing that she did, in fact, need to breathe in between sentences.
"In the women's room, Rachel," Sally said before the younger girl could start again.
"Oh, yes, why didn't I think of that? See you tonight, Percy," Rachel said as she walked toward the stairs.
Percy watched his wife walk past their son and up to the women's room with an intense look on his face.
Oh. My. God. Remember last chapter when I promised I'd update sooner than a month? Yeah, me neither, it was just too long ago. My excuses aren't even good. I mean, I started school in early August so that's a reasonable excuse, but my weekend have been spent sitting around my house waiting on a fuckboy to text me back. I've been beating myself up about it, too. I mean, kid's not even cute. He got acne and his fingernails dirty.
[The correct grammar for that sentence was "He has acne and his fingernails are dirty," for all my readers whose native language isn't English.] Anyways, I'm not gonna make a promise on when I'll update again because obviously I can't pull through.
In other news, this chapter sucks. It's way too rushed, it's painfully short, like, I don't even want to post it because it's a good ⅓ the length of all the other chapters, and it's just all stupid. I'll try and make up for it by posting again soon but we all know how that's gonna turn out.
Also, tea wasn't actually brought to Europe until I think around the mid 1600s but I thought it was funny for Percy to be confused by Greek so I slipped a terrible language barrier joke in there.
One last thing: My time is split between schoolwork (obviously), this story, and a few other oneshots I'm in the process of writing (and have been since July). I don't know when they'll be up but be on the lookout for them if you're interested.
Okay, I love you, kids. Make good choices. Don't waste your weekends waiting for a car-junkie fuckboy to text you back. Eat your veggies. And drink milk, guys, for realsies. Drink milk.
LoverBoi2000- "Glad to know there are others out there with hearts and actually think immigrants are humans too"- I'm a lil bitch and will cry at the drop of a hat so like don't get me started because I've already had an emotionally taxing week (it's Wednesday where I am, in case you're wondering) but oh my fucking god some of the videos and stories coming from the ICE and volunteers are absolute horror stories. I couldn't imagine going through that kind of treatment or being seperated from my family for even a few weeks, no less months or years. One of my teachers, she's a refugee from Syria, came to America three years ago. Her seven year-old daughter and ten year-old-son just arrived her in the U.S. Her husband in Lebanon where they stayed after fleeing Syria. Imagine being four and celebrating your birthday with your mother via Skype. It's just heartwrenching. Also, I saw that you updated Preppy Oneshots and it made my whole day. Not gonna lie, I'll reread your stories frequently. Anyways, thank you!
Sv007- " I have been following this story from the start and I think this is my first review. For starters let me applaud you for a really novel idea that of Percy being a Roman. There might be some stories like that but not in medieval AU. And I must say that you've chosen your names wonderfully. Aries is a symbol of good luck and represents power. But Rachel and Sally really are modern day names and you might want to rethink those as really don't fit well enough but that's my opinion. Forgive me for asking about spoilers but will you be introducing Jason in nearby future? In the end you write what matters the most to me in PJO fandom and that's Percabeth. I really hate stories with no logic of pairing like Pertemis. Perachel stories are a taboo subject for Percabeth fans but will you try this out here. Please don't make Rachel into a total b*tch as many other writers do. I say this because I see a lot of potential in this story.
PLEASE UPDATE FASTER"- I love that your first review asked me to update faster in all caps and I update literally two months later. I really like the idea of Percy being Roman and Annabeth being Greek because I think one of the defining characteristics about them is that Percy spent his life trying to fit in with the 'normal' kids in the 'real world' in the book while Annabeth got tired of the 'real world's' shit and made herself a home at camp, and I wanna reflect that in this story with Percy trying to fit in the the Romans and Annabeth having none of their shit. As for the names, you'll have to thank wRenSketched for the name Aries. I use a website called for most of the non-cannon characters. As for the names Rachel and Sally, I'm trying to figure out how to slip in a backstory for the names but in case I forget I'll just tell you here: Sally is short for Savilla. Nicknames were really common in Ancient Rome. Rachel is originally from Britannica, so she has and English name. Rome didn't actually take over present-day Britain until about two centuries later while under the command of Emperor Claudius but this is a fanfiction and not a history book so….c'est la vie. Also, yes, I was originally planning for Jason to be in this chapter but life got in the way. But, yes, he'll be introduced within the next two chapters, maybe three. I agree with you on PJO relationships; Percabeth matters most and ships like Pertemis are illogical. Also Perlia? They're….like...cousins? Like I know Nico is Percy's cousin and had a crush on him but I feel like it's different because Percy acts like a cousin to the Graces. Anyways, yeah, this story is total Percabeth and I'm having trouble restraining myself from moving quickly with their relationship because I just want some damn cuddles, man. So I've been statiating myself by adding in children and babies. Lastly, I originally started this story with the plan of making Rachel a cheating bitch but after reading your review I agree that it's just an overused and overworked stereotype. I do, however, think that Rachel just one of those people whose totally scatterbrained and not ready for a family and domestic life, so I'll try and sway her character more toward the 'restless spirit' than the 'miserable tramp.' And on that note, thank you so much for reviewing, it really means a lot to me. Have a good day! Or night! Or week! Or month!
ostrichface- "this
this is beautiful
that is all. thank you."- You're a wonderful person and I love you and I think about you everyday. But not in, like, a creepy way. In, like, a 'oh my gosh I hope that darling ostrich on fanfiction is doing okay and has a good day." You know? You know. Anyways, thank you so much for your review, I love you.
Artemis0406- "finally in Rome.
And just a quick question what happened to Percy's wife.
And when can we start seeing Percy and annabeth getting romantically involved"- I know, it felt like forever before they got to ROme, but I'm trying really hard not to rush this story. Which, based on my sporadic updating schedule is working just fine. Umm, so here is Percy's wife. Voila. And as for when Percabeth becomes love-dovey...I don't really know? I kinda started writing this story as a self-indulgent Percabeth historical fiction without the thought that other people might enjoy it so I really only have a very basic outline of the first half of the story but I will slip in as much Percabeth moments as I can. I'm kinda just bullshitting my way through life right now, to be honest. Thank you so much for your review!
The Fan/Guest/wRen- "The fan:I'm happy my comment made your day! Yes I ship Cleo and nice job on the chapter! I'm going to make an account very soon too! I like the name of Percy's son. And the fluff. I love you for it. I wish I could help get the chapters out faster because they are very nice and enjoyable! So Calypso is gonna come in later with Leo. I'm excited to see how Rachel reacts to Annabeth.
Good luck in the future!
Sincerely,
A fan of yours"
AND
"Hey dude!
This is my new account! I'd love to chat some time. I'm just starting so yeah! Anyways see ya later!
Sincerely,
wRen
Aka A fan of yours"- Hey man! I'm so glad you got an account, finally. Maybe I'll PM you some snippets of the chapters for being such a helpful reviewer. So, yeah, Caleo is kind of already established in the story, however, for other ships like Jasper and Solangelo, there will be a storyline. Obviously not nearly as important as Percabeth but still there. As for Rachel reacting to Annabeth…..I'm excited to see how she reacts, too, man. Cause I don't know how this will play out. Thank you so much for reviewing (twice) and keeping up with this story (and it's train wreck of an author), it means a lot.
