*Author's note: someone pointed out to me that the characters are just a little OOC. And they're right. Annabeth would not normally be as violent toward Percy as she has been in my fic. And Percy could totally beat her in a sword fight, it's true. I will try to be a little better about making them fit more into the personalities and behaviors that Rick Riordan gave them. Sorry about that. And if I don't get it quite right, I'm sorry. I'll try, promise.

"How's everything in the Underworld?" I asked, as I set a stuffed trident in front of Korinna. My thirteen-month-old daughter immediately dropped the stuffed owl she had been playing with and grabbed the trident.

I smirked to myself. That's right, Athena, I thought. My baby likes Poseidon better.

Nico, sitting on the armchair across from me, shrugged. It's been a while since he and I have talked. Things are always a little...awkward between us. "It's pretty much the same as always. Nothing exciting has happened lately, not since the Doors of Death were closed. I keep waiting for something to happen, but maybe we're finally getting the break that we deserve. I mean, all that stuff with Kronos and Gaea took about six years to finally get sorted out, altogether. I'm sure something will happen soon, though. It always does. What about you? Has Korinna been keeping you and Annabeth busy?"

I glanced at my giggling daughter. She loved to giggle, all the time. Annabeth and I both loved to hear her giggle. It was one of the best sounds in the world. Except when her giggle meant that she was doing something ornery. Which was about three-fourths of the time. She was a little stinker. Annabeth always says that she takes after me the most.

"Yeah. She's a lot like me, which gives me even more respect for my mom. I don't know if I could raise Kori on my own. I'd go crazy."

"You already are, Percy. You've always been crazy." He said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Ha, ha. Hilarious. Kori is a lot to handle. She loves to get into trouble. All the time."

"I can tell. She ran off, just so you know. At least, she's not where she was just two seconds ago."

"What?" I glanced over again. Sure enough, Kori was gone. How? I had only looked away for two seconds! "Oh, no. Kori!" I called, jumping to my feet.

Nico struggled not to laugh as I started frantically looking around. It was really hard to make that guy laugh.

"Uh, Percy? I really don't think she's hiding in the DVD player."

"Shut up. Why don't you actually get up and help me look?" He was just sitting there, leaning back totally casually. Like he didn't care.

"She's your daughter. Your responsibility."

I glared at the younger man. I was so not in the mood for his crap. My daughter could get into a lot of trouble when she was left unattended for any length of time. "You do realize that Annabeth is going to kill both of us if we don't find Korinna or if Korinna gets hurt in any way? She'll hunt you down, Nico, even if you shadow travel out of here. You don't mess with Annabeth's baby."

Nico scrambled to his feet. "Korinna!" he called.

Finally, I found her in the laundry room. Eating. Out of our new cat's litter box. We had just gotten the cat a week ago, but this was the first time that my daughter had ever tried eating out of it. At least, as far as I knew.

I rushed forward and scooped her up, trying to keep her messy hands away from her mouth. I grimaced. "That is disgusting, Korinna."

"What did she – Is that…?"

"Yes, it is."

"Cand!" Korinna exclaimed happily, waving her little hands around.

I barely resisted the urge to throw up. I was not going to be asking for any kisses from this little girl, not anytime soon, that was for sure. "No, Kori. That is not a candy. This is yucky. Don't ever eat out of that box again. Oh, man. Your mama is going to kill me."

"And why would I do that, Perseus?" an angry voice asked from the doorway.

I slowly turned to face Annabeth. I gulped when he saw her stormy eyes, looking at Korinna's little treat and then at the litter box. "I'm dead," I muttered. Well, I wasn't dead. Annabeth wouldn't kill me. But I could tell that she was going to be upset with me for a while.

"I'm out of here," Nico said. A moment later, he was gone.

"Coward," I mumbled. I gave Annabeth a nervous smile. "I love you."

"Nice try, Seaweed Brain. It's not going to work this time."