Sorry again! With the Holidays things got busy, but here is my late Holiday present to all of you! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday. Enjoy the chapter!

Annabeth's POV:

"Mommy can I go wake daddy up?" Claire asked from her spot at the kitchen table. James and Zach had finished breakfast already and had gone into the other room to watch television before everyone started arriving.

"In a few minutes sweetheart," I replied, drying another dish and placing it on the pile of clean ones.

"Why's he so tired?" Claire stood up and brought her empty plate over to me. "Is he okay?"

I placed her plate in the sink and began washing it. "He's fine baby girl. He's just tired."

"Oh," She turned her gaze to the floor.

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Go."

Se giggled and ran out of the kitchen. As I finished cleaning the dishes, I heard the front door open and a squeal of delight from Zach. Thalia, Nico, and Bianca must be here. Sure enough a few moments later Thalia and Nico entered the kitchen.

"Hey Annie," Thalia said, walking over to hug me.

"Hi. Thanks for coming early."

Nico shrugged. "It's not big deal"

"Of course not," Thalia said, rolling her eyes. "You won't be cooking."

Nico smirked. "Got that right."

Before Thalia or I could respond, Percy's voice drifted down the hallway. "Claire Jackson! What did we say about manipulating water in the house!"

Nico laughed. "Wow. This is one strange family."

I rolled my eyes " You're telling me. I better go handle this." I headed down the hallway that led to the bedroom I shared with Percy. I heard squealing and giggling. I entered our room to find Percy tickling Claire relentlessly. He was still in his pajamas and his disheveled hair led me to believe he had just woken up.

Clair spotted me and smiled. "Mommy! Help me," He tone told me that she didn't really mean it. I walked over to them and wrapped my arms around Percy's waist.

"You really do need to get dressed," I whispered in his ear. "I'm sure what ever she did can easily be forgiven."

Percy slowly stopped tickling our daughter and pulled me into a hug. "Hmm, I guess so. I can dry the sheets easily," He turned to playfully glare at Claire. "But if you play with water in the house one more time-"

"I won't daddy. Can I go play with the other kids now?" Claire asked sweetly.

Percy chuckled. "Of course baby girl."

Claire jumped up and ran out of the room, straitening out her dress as she went.

"She's a little ball of energy isn't she?" Percy laughed as he puled away and walked over to the dresser.

I raised an eyebrow at him, tough he couldn't see because he was facing away from me. "Sound familiar?"

He froze for a minute, apparently deep in thought. "Nope. No one comes to mind."

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. "You sure?"

"Positive."

"Hyper. Impulsive. Always has good intentions, but it usually results in trouble? Are you sure it doesn't sound like anyone?"

He laughed. "Why don't you just tell me."

I shook my head. "You Seaweed Brain. She's a mini you."

He laughed again. "I guess so."

"Guess so? She's a younger, female, version of you," I uncrossed my arms and headed for the door. "Just get dressed. Thalia and Nico are already here, everyone else will be here in an hour or so. I have to go finish cooking."

He pulled his shirt over his head and waved at me. "Go on. I'll see you in a little bit."

I shook my head and went back to the kitchen. Thalia had already begun boiling the water for the pasta. She was cutting up some vegetables and paltering them as she went. I sighed and walked over to her, pulling my hair back into a ponytail as I did.

"Thalia Di Angelo you are a goddess," I exclaimed.

She laughed. "Not quite. It's a bit overrated actually. I mean I've been immortal, and I really don't see what all the fuss is about." Thunder rumbled overhead. Thalia groaned. "Cool it Dad. I didn't mean it." She placed a knife on a cutting board and slid it over to me.

"Where are the kids?" I asked as I began cutting the peppers.

"With Percy and Nico in the other room," Thalia and I turned when a third voice answered us. Piper was in the doorway smiling. "Jason's with them, too."

"Hey Piper," I greeted her. "Grab a knife."

She laughed and walked over to stand beside Thalia. "So Annabeth, how are you feeling?"

I shrugged. "I'm okay. Apart from that little fainting mishap, everything's fine."

"And Percy? How's he doing?"

I sighed. "He says he's fine, but I still worry sometimes. He started work again a few days ago and Oliver has him on nights."

Thalia and Piper looked at each other and then back at me. "You don't want him working there anymore do you?" Thalia asked.

I shook my head. "I wish he would have chosen a safer profession you know."

Piper smiled sympathetically. "Yeah I know."

"Let's just finish cooking," I said, returning my attention to the vegetables in front of me.

"It's so good to see you!" I exclaimed hugging Hazel as she entered the house.

"You too Annabeth, you look fantastic," Hazel replied.

"Come in, come in, it's so cold out there," I grabbed her arm and led her into the living room. "Where's Frank?"

"He's getting Em out of the car," Hazel replied.

"Oh I can't wait to see her. It's been entirely too long."

"Yes it has. She didn't really enjoy the whole 'shadow traveling through a hellhound thing.' Though I really do need to thank Percy for sending Mrs. O'leary."

"Did she drop you off here?" I asked her.

"Nope, she dropped us off at Camp Half-blood and we drove the rest of the way here." Hazel took off her coat and hung it up on one of the hangers in the hall closet. "Are we the last ones here?"

I shook my head. "No, Leo and Reyna still aren't here yet, but they called and said they would be here soon. I'm surprised you guys didn't drive here together."

"Reyna had something to deal with at camp," Frank said entering the room.

"Hi Frank," I said smiling at him. I turned my attention to the baby he was holding on his hip. "And this little beauty must be Emily? Oh my gods she got so big."

The little girl was absolutely stunning. Her complexion was not quite as dark as Hazel, but not as light as Frank. She had chocolate brown eyes and curly dark brown hair. She was smiling and giggling, snuggling against her fathers chest.

"Say hi to Annabeth, Em," Frank said, smiling at his daughter.

Emily made some sort of baby noise and I smiled back at her. "Why don't you take your coat off Frank. The guys are in the kitchen."

Frank hand Emily to Hazel, hung his coat up and then headed for the kitchen.

"Can I hold her?" I asked.

Hazel nodded. "Yeah of course." I took Emily from hazel and headed into the living room. Piper and Thalia were sitting on the couch, drinking coffee. Sally was on the chair and Clarisse was sitting on one of the folding chairs that we had set up.

"Hi Hazel!" Piper greeted her as she

"Hey Piper. Hi everyone," She responded.

"Hazel why don't you sit down. I can bring Emily into James's. That's were the kids are."

Hazel was hesitant. "Um,"

"Hazel," Sally interrupter her gently. "May, Madison, and Ryan are all in there with the kids. She'll be absolutely fine."

Hazel nodded, but didn't sit down. "You sit. I'll take her."

I nodded and handed her back her daughter. I sat between Thalia and Piper on the couch.

"Do you remember being that protective with the kids?" Clarisse asked.

I shrugged. "Maybe with James and Claire, in the beginning."

Piper nodded in agreement. "Maybe it's a first child thing," she sighed and stared into her cup of coffee. "I really do want another one."

"Have you been trying?" Hazel asked as she reentered the room and sat down on another one of the chairs.

Piper nodded. "Yeah, but it took forever to have Ethan. But I believe it will happen."

I smiled at her. "Yeah Pipes it will."

"Well I'm fine with Bianca," Thalia said.

Hazel frowned. "You don't want to have anymore children?"

Thalia shrugged. "Nico and I never really planned on having children. I mean don't get me wrong, I love Bee and I'm so grateful that we had her, but I don't really see myself having anymore children."

"Does Nico feel the same?" Hazel asked.

"I think so."

The door bell rang. "I've got it!" Percy called from the kitchen. A few minutes later Reyna came into the room holding a baby carrier which held a sleeping Daniel.

I smiled at her. "Hi Reyna."

"Hello Annabeth," She said with a smile.

"You want to put Daniel in with the other kids? May, Madison, and Ryan are back there keeping an eye on them."

Reyna nodded. "Sure." She was gone and back in a few minutes. She sat down on one of the chairs. "So how have you guys been?"

"Good," I replied. "How have you been?"

Reyna shrugged. "Not to bad. Things at camp are a little hectic, you know. The people are pretty worked up about the whole demititan thing. It's been a little difficult keeping everyone calm."

Hazel nodded in agreement. "The campers are in a frenzy. They want to work on finding this camp of demititans, but I agree with you Reyna."

Thalia frowned. "What's your view on the whole thing?"

Reyna shrugged. "I know that we need to be ready to fight, but I think attempting to find this camp would just be a waste of our resources. Splitting up the people we have would just weaken our forces when it comes time to fight."

I nodded. "I agree. Besides I don't think we would be able to find the camp anyway."

Sally, who had been fairly quite this whole time spoke up. "I agree Annabeth. Finding this camp would be difficult if not impossible."

"How do you figure that Mrs. Blofis?"

Sally smiled. "Please, call me Sally. As for the camp, in my experience if the immortals don't want something to be found, then it won't be found."

"How do you know?" Clarisse asked.

"Poseidon," she replied simply.

"Poseidon?" Hazel asked.

Sally nodded. "After I found out I was going to have Percy, I told Poseidon. He explained who he was, no sense hiding what I already knew. He told me not to look for him. He said that I wouldn't be able to find him, so I shouldn't look. It the Titians don't want their children's camp discovered, it won't happen."

We were all quite for a few minutes before Piper finally spoke up. "Sally, can I ask you something?"

Sally laughed. "Ask away Piper."

"What was it like?"

She frowned. "What was what like?"

"Having a baby with a god," Piper whispered, staring at her feet.

Sally laughed. "Don't be embarrassed Piper, I'm sure all of you have thought of it at one point or another. Am I right?" She looked around the circle at all of us. We all nodded in agreement. Sally laughed again. "Well to put it simply, it was difficult. I imagine it was more difficult for me then most."

"Why?" Thalia asked.

"Because she can see through the mist," I whispered. "Right?"

Sally nodded. "Most people who have children with the gods don't know that they are having children with the gods. I did. I knew what Percy was and the danger he was going to be in. I had to worry about him constantly as a child and I couldn't explain any of the weird things that happened to him. I tried to be the best mother I could be for him, even married an awful man to keep him safe. I think I did an okay job. He turned into a pretty wonderful person."

I smiled. "Better then wonderful."

Thalia nodded. "Sure he's a kelp head, but hey he did bring us all together."

Hazel nodded. "And he saved the world."

"More then once," Clarisse added.

"He's a pretty good guy," Reyna said.

"You did a wonderful job Sally," Piper smiled at her.

"Yeah," I sighed, placing a hand on my stomach. "You did a wonderful job."

"So how are you feeling?" Percy asked, wrapping his arms around my waist. I had just put out the food and everybody was in the living room eating dinner. Percy and I were in the kitchen.

"Pretty good. I really missed hanging out with everyone," I replied putting my arms around his neck and kissing him softly. "And I had a nice talk with your mom."

He frowned. "My mom?" He sighed. "What embarrassing story did she tell you?"

I laughed. "You're entirely too paranoid Seaweed Brain. Lighten up."

He rolled his eyes and kissed me again.

"Percy?" A small voice asked. Percy and I broke apart and turned to see May standing near the entry to the kitchen. "Sorry Annabeth, but can I borrow him for a minute?"

I laughed. "Sure May," I kissed Percy briefly. "Don't be too long."

May's POV:

"This is about Madison, isn't it?" Percy asked me. We were in Percy and Annabeth's bedroom and he was leaning against the wall.

I shook me head and turned my gaze to the floor. "I don't know what's wrong with her Percy. She's just so…so …. I don't know, mad? No. That's not it."

"Then what is it. When we talked a few days ago you seemed so sure there was something wrong with her."

"She's not herself. She's been spending more and more time with her new friend who she won't introduce us to. She barley talks to me anymore and, please don't tell Sally this, but she's been skipping school too."

Percy raised an eyebrow at me. "Madison?"

I nodded.

"Our Madison? The same one who spent an hour locked in her room because she failed a science quiz?"

I nodded again. I felt tears beginning form in my eyes. I hated crying in front of Percy, I didn't want him to see me as weak.

"Hey, hey don't cry May," He walked over to me and pulled me into a hug.

"I don't want to lose my best friend Percy. I don't know whats wrong with her," I whispered.

"We'll figure it out May. I promise. Why don't we go back to the party?"

I nodded. "I'll be there in a minute. I just.."

Percy smiled. "Take all the time you need." He pulled away and left the room. I grabbed a tissue from the bedside table and dabbed my eyes. I left the room and headed for the bathroom to try to clean my face a little bit.

The door to the bathroom was opened a bit and the light was on. I was about to knock to see who was in there when I heard Madison talking to someone.

"I don't know how much longer I can keep this up Kenna." I froze, my back against the wall and my eyes wide. Why on earth would Madison be talking to Kenna.

"You won't have to keep it up very much longer," When I heard Kenna's reply I realized she must be Iris messaging Kenna. If I wanted I could see the maniac that captured my brother, but I didn't dare look into the room.

"How much longer Kenna! I don't want to pretend anymore!"

"Terra isn't ready yet. She needs more time to develop her skills."

"I'm currently in a house filled with demigods and their children Kenna. I hate it!" Madison sounded close to tears.

"I know this is hard Madison, but it won't be much longer."

"I need a time Kenna! I need a date or… or something!"

Kenna laughed. A low menacing laugh that sent a chill through my entire body. "Perhaps it would be appropriate to begin our attack at the end of May." I couldn't breath I felt myself hyperventilating. I turned to run, though I wasn't sure where. I made it half way down the hall when I ran into someone.

"Woah May, what's up?" It was Ryan. He was smirking playfully.

"I-I c-c-can't b-br-r-re-eath," I managed to gasp.

His playful look turned into one of fear. "Um, okay, just calm down. Deep breaths," He sat me down against the wall. "One," I took a shaky breath. "Two," I took another breath, my heart rate slowing down. "Three," I had finally regained my composure. He smiled slightly. "Good, now you want to tell me whats wrong?"

I nodded. "Yeah, but not here," I whispered. "We need somewhere private."

"Somewhere private for what?" Ryan and I turned to see Claire standing there, smiling sweetly, her hands behind her back.

"Um, nothing Claire," Ryan said, pulling me to my feet.

"Are you guys gonna make out?" She asked innocently.

Ryan turned a deep crimson color and the heat in my cheeks gave me the feeling that I matched him.

"No Claire we were just-"

"It's okay. I won't tell," she interrupted me. "I even know a place, but you guys have to promise me that you won't tell anyone about it."

Ryan and I looked at each other and then back at Claire. "We promise," I replied.

She smiled and took my hand in one of hers. She dragged me toward her bedroom. It was a tidy little room. Any normal five year old would have toys all over the place, but Claire had very few toys in her room. The only thing remotely messy was a small easel in the corner with a half finished painting on it. I recognized Rockefeller center. Claire pulled me over to her bed and then let go of my hand. She jumped onto the bed and knelt before the window. She pulled it open and jumped out on the fire escape, motioning for us to follow her. I looked at Ryan. He shrugged, but walked passed me and climbed out the window.

"Claire, how on earth did you know how to get up here?" I asked her as I sat on a ledge overlooking the city.

She shrugged and pulled her knees to her chest. "I needed a place. To get away from the dreams."

"Dreams?" Ryan asked.

She nodded. "The bad ones. Before the quest. I like coming up here and thinking. It's nice. The only problem is it sometimes gets a little cold, like now," She stood up and brushed off her skirt. "Don't tell anyone about it. I like having somewhere I can go where no one can follow."

I smiled and hugged her. "I won't tell Claire," I pulled her close and whispered in her ear. "Next time we're at camp I have to show you a special place of my own." She smiled and nodded, before hugging me back.

"Don't be too long guys, or daddy might think somethings up," She walked toward the fire escape. "Have fun," She giggled before disappearing.

I waited until she was out of earshot before turning to Ryan. "She's adorable."

He nodded, but didn't say anything. He just sat there staring at me.

I sighed and turned my gaze toward the ground. "I have some explaining to do."

He raised snorted. "You think?"

I rolled my eyes, but kept staring at my feet. "I over heard Madison in the bathroom-"

"Do I really want you to finish this story?"

I shoved him playfully. "Shut up and listen. Well she was Iris Messaging…. someone."

He frowned. "Who? Everyone she would message is here."

I shook my head. "Ryan, she was talking to Kenna."

Ryan went rigid. "Kenna? As in crazy psychotic demititan who tortured your brother Kenna?"

I nodded. "She.. Ryan I think she's working with her."

Ryan put an arm on my shoulder. "What else did she say?"

I shook my head."Madison said she was mad or something. I think maybe at us?"

"Us as in me and you?"

I shook my head. "No us as in me and Percy."

"Oh," he squeezed my shoulder slightly. "Anything else?"

"They said something about training someone named Terra," I glanced at him. "Any idea who that is?"

He shrugged. "Maybe another demititan?"

I sighed. "Probably. Then Madison said something about wanting to know an exact date for their attack. Kenna said…."

"Said what?" Ryan whispered.

I fought hard to keep the tears from falling. "That it would be appropriate to begin their attack at the end of May."

Ryan took a sharp intake of breath. "May, I won't let anyone hurt you."

I let out a short laugh. "Ryan-"

"No. I won't let it happen. I promise."

I bit my lip. "I just can't believe Maddie would work with someone so… twisted."

"Sometimes people do things that can't be explained," Ryan whispered.

I turned to face him, sitting back on my legs. "Let's play."

He smirked. "Fine. You first."

"Did you know that Maddie plotting with Kenna breaks my heart?" I asked him.

He smiled sadly. "I had a hunch, but no, I didn't know that," he rubbed his hands together. "Did you know that I never want your heart to be broken?"

I smiled slightly. "I had a hunch," He laughed. I looked out at the city. "Did you no that I am actually terrified that this whole demititans thing might lead to a war?"

He sighed. "No, I didn't. Did you know I am just as scared as you are?"

I turned to face him. "No," I whispered. "Did you know that I trust you with my life?"

He shook his head, but didn't say anything. It was implied but never verbal spoken that I trusted him completely. It was his turn, but he said nothing. Maybe he wanted the game to be over? I was about to ask him when he spoke. "Did you know that I want to kiss you right now?"

I was shocked. Completely shocked. I shook my head and responded. "Did you know that I want to kiss you too?"

The next thing I knew his lips were on mine. They were soft and warm. In that moment I felt safe and loved. I felt like I was flying without fear that Zeus would strike me down. I wondered if this was what Annabeth felt when she kissed Percy, or what Thalia felt with Nico or Piper with Jason or any girl with any guy that she thought she might be in love with.

For that moment, when my lips were connected to his, I forgot about the demititans, the possible war, Maddie's betrayal, all of it. All I knew was Ryan was there, and I was never, ever, going to let him go.

I really like this chapter, though it is a transition chapter. We are moving into the demititan plot. We are also slowly getting closer to welcoming new baby Jackson! It was always my personal opinion that if, for some reason, Thalia ever did have children, it wouldn't have been her personal preference, but she would have loved them to pieces anyway. Same with Nico. On the other hand you have Annabeth and Percy, who would want to surround themselves in family. Maybe it's just me. Anyway until next update, please remember to review and vote in the poll! -LunarWhispers.