Hello my lovelies! This chapter will stray away from the Camp Half-Blood theme and will be six flashbacks about Christmases in the past. They're just short stories about cute, innocent little Percy Jackson and his loving mother at Christmastime.

Enjoy!

And to pnut9282, I'M SO GLAD YOU LAUGHED WHILE READING THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER! And Merry Christmas to you, too!

R&R!

Six Christmas Memories


(#1 Age 4)

"Mommy, Mommy, look! It's schnowing outside!" Four year old Percy Jackson had his teeny nose pressed up against the window, watching the blizzard.

"It's called snow, dear," Sally Jackson corrected, ruffling her son's hair. Percy giggled in delight.

"Can I go play in it?" he asked, his big green eyes pleading. Sally hesitated, like she was going to cave (which was what usually happened when her son asked for something).

"Not right now, Percy, your stepfather will be home any second. Then you and me can go Christmas tree shopping!"

"Yay!" Percy cried, leaping up off of the chair by his window and dancing around their little apartment. Sally watched he spun around and around, then stumbled to the ground, his high-pitched squeals warming her heart.


(#2 Age 5)

"Percy! Your hot chocolate is ready!" Percy set down his toy dinosaur and scampered to the kitchen where his Santa Claus mug was sitting on the counter. Santa grinned down at Percy.

"Dank you, Mommy!" He snuffled, wiping his nose on his sleeve.

"Oh, honey. Are you feeling any better?" Sally Jackson plucked a tissue out of the box behind their landline and handed it to him. He shook his head while he dragged the tissue across his puffy, red nose.

"I'm sorry you have to be sick for Christmas."

Percy climbed up into his chair, wrapping his hands around the steaming mug. He watched the marshmallows swirl around in the hot chocolate, leaving trails of white, sticky goo. He sipped the warm drink; it soothed his throat.

"Why am I sick?" he asked his mother.

"Because you have a virus."

"What's a virus?"

"Remember those little creatures called "germs" that I told you about?" Percy nodded. "When you get too many germs, they turn into a virus, and the virus makes you sick."

"Oh. I wish the germs would go away." His mother smiled down at him while he sipped at his drink.

"They will, Percy. Don't worry."

"I should've asked Santa for my virus to get better."


(#3 Age 6)

"Whee!" Percy flew across the ice, his skates sending chips of snow up into the air behind him. The crowds parted as he zoomed around the rink, amazed at the skill of such a young boy.

His mother and stepfather watched his circle around and around the rink, going faster and faster each time. The towering Christmas tree above the rink sent a rainbow of colors down onto the ice, creating a cheery atmosphere for skating.

As Percy kept gaining speed, his mother was getting more and more nervous; she expected a scrape at any moment.

Sure enough, her "mother's intuition" proved to be correct. As Percy rounded the corner, he slipped on some melted ice and fell into a pool of water. His mother rushed out to help him.

"Are you alright?" she said breathlessly, examining his hand. He had a small cut on his palm.

"I'm okay," little Percy reassured her, slowly rising to his feet. He was off skating again immediately.

Unbeknown to anyone, the water droplets on his hand disappeared into the cut, and, within seconds, the cut had healed itself.


(#4 Age 7)

Percy awoke on Christmas morning at six o'clock sharp, his excited yells echoing through the apartment: "Santa came, Santa came!" He'd rushed over to the fireplace, squealing excitedly over his full stocking. Once he'd finally gotten his mother out of bed, he'd dug into the presents, ripping open the paper and examining the gift inside.

"Whoa! This is so cool!" He held up two new dinosaur toys (A/N: For some reason, I picture Percy liking toy dinosaurs… #DealWithIt), one a tyrannosaurus and the other a triceratops.

Percy immediately engaged them in a battle to the death, bashing their heads together. After minutes of constant fighting, one of the triceratops' horns broke off. Percy's eyes started to water, and soon he was blubbering like a baby.

"Oh, honey, don't worry, I can fix that." His mom grabbed some Super Glue out of the cupboard, and soon little Percy was happily playing with his toys again.

His mother watched in admiration as her son contentedly played with his Christmas gifts. She noticed a letter attached to the tree, marked Sally. She plucked it off and opened it.

Dearest Sally, it read, This is for Percy when the time is right. It'll explain everything to him, so please don't forget to have him read it when he's old enough. Always yours, Poseidon.

Sally blushed when she read the letter, then dug into the envelope and extracted another letter, addressed Percy.

As she read the letter, her eyes grew wider and wider. Her son was a… a… half-blood?


(#5 Age 8)

"What's this?" Percy plucked a small, square present from behind the tree. "Is this from you?" His mother shook her head.

"Go ahead, open it. Let's find out what it is," she prodded. Percy slowly tore off the paper, his nimble fingers carefully unfolding the blue wrapping.

Greek Mythology, the cover read, A Full Guide to the Gods and Goddesses of Olympus. Percy regarded it in confusion. His mother let out a gasp when she saw the cover, then quickly covered her mouth.

"What's wrong?" Percy asked.

"Nothing, nothing," she said, taking the book from his hands and examining it herself. She opened the cover and saw, in the bottom left corner of the page, writing that said From, Poseidon. She tucked the book under her arm and promptly strolled out of the room, leaving a bewildered Percy behind.


(#6 Age 9)

"Whoa!" Percy and his mother were nestled in the sleigh, riding all through Central Park. (A/N: I don't know if that can actually happen, but just go with it, okay?)

The sleigh increased speed as it flew around a corner, sending Percy toppling into his mother's lap. Once the sleigh slid to a stop, Percy and his mother burst out laughing, their cheeks rosy in the cold air. They paid the driver and exited the sleigh, watching the cloud of snow behind it as it drove off into the night.

"Merry Christmas!" the driver called over his shoulder, giving them a merry wave. They waved back at him, smiling widely.

"That was fun. Thanks, Mom," Percy said, snuggling into her warm coat. She smiled and wrapped her arms around her son.

"Of course, Percy."

"I love you." He said, his face buried in her fluffy coat.

"I love you, too, dear," she responded, hugging him tighter against her.


Awh. So much love. It gives me tingles! I love the relationship between Percy and his mom, if you hadn't noticed that. Why else would I write a whole set of flashbacks dedicated to them?

Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you enjoyed these little flashbacks as much as I did. Lots of foreshadowing of Percy's future…

Merry Christmas to you all, and I hope you get to spend it with the people you love. That's what really matters.

I love you guys!

-TheLegendaryPotterhead **Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and All That Jazz**