I was scared. Really scared. But I think I took it well.

Actually, no I didn't. I was rendered catatonic and frantically hooking my ankle around Zoë's, something we used to do when we were younger. If one of us got scared, upset, nervous, etc. it kind of became instinct to hook our ankles, like I was doing now.

Everyone looked more worried than I had ever seen them. Even Luke looked serious for once.

I heard a loud whisper of, "Oh FUCK, we forgot to tell them, didn't we?" from Aunt Piper's downstairs, and stunned silence.

Within a minute, all the parents were all upstairs.

"So, uh, yeah. We decided you guys are gonna take the next two weeks off of school to go visit Camp." Uncle Percy said quickly, brushing blue crumbs off his hands.

"WHAT?" Zoë yelped. "But I can't! I have a science exam next Monday, a math quiz tomorrow, a spelling test on Wednesday-"

"But camp!" Bob threw his hands up in the air.

"But school!" Zoë screeched, attempting to pull her hair out in great clumps.

"Zoë, don't worry." Aunt Annabeth put a hand on her shoulder. "The school is notified and your grade will not be affected by this, partly because of your Aunt Hazel's amazing Mist magic, partly because of a 'family emergency.' Besides, you'll have so much fun at camp!"

"Yeah, you're gonna get awesome stabby stabby weapons and learn how to kill people!" Uncle Leo grinned maniacally. Aunt Calypso slapped him.

"Can I get a huge ass shotgun like Dad?" I raised my hand and grinned.

Papa and Dad both stood up. "aBsOlUtElY nOt!"

"Guys, it was a joke."

"No daughter of mine is going to have a gun!" Papa wrinkled his nose. "No, you're going to have the very best, deadliest Stygian Iron sword I can get my hands on."

"nICO!"

"wHAT?"

While Papa and Dad bickered, everyone excitedly bantered about camp. Even I forgot about the whole stalking thing temporarily. But I didn't unhook my ankle from Zoë's, and I didn't feel completely at ease.

I wondered if this was what real fear felt like.

Later that night, I was sitting on my bed with my laptop open. I wasn't into the scrolling I was doing, though. It was more like a way to pass time so I wouldn't have to sleep.

I heard footsteps on the stairs and I quickly shut down the laptop and put it on the bedside table. Even if we were going to camp in two days, I still had a bedtime.

Unfortunately.

I lay there on my side, staring out the window into the night sky. I saw a constellation of a girl. It shifted slightly while running, drew back a string of stardust, let go, and a shooting star flew across the galaxy for all the world to see.

I smiled faintly as I remembered what Uncle Percy and Aunt Annabeth used to tell us: There she is; Lieutenant Zoë Nightshade of the Hunters of Artemis, living on in the stars, forever hunting the night beasts of the sky.

My door opened. I didn't try to feign sleep; Papa and Dad knew all too well when I faked being asleep.

My dads were each carrying a sleeping twin on their hips. I inclined my head slightly to acknowledge their presence, and watched as they made their way to my bed and sat down on either edge.

It was silent for a few minutes. Then Dad spoke.

"Did we ever tell you the story of when we decided we wanted to become parents?" He had a faraway look in his eyes.

I knew the answer to that question. They had told it so many times I knew it word for word. It was my favorite story out of all the tales they had to tell. I probably knew this story better than they did at this point. Of course they told me this story before.

"Not that I can recall." I answered.

"Well, you see…" Papa put Michael down next to me and shifted his position. "It was a few days after your cousin Zoë was born. We all loved that girl to bits; she showed she had Percy's attitude and Annabeth's brain as well as both of their looks right from the very beginning. She was really something."

"And one day, I volunteered us to watch little Zoë Jackson while Percy and Annabeth had a much needed day of rest about a month after the baby had come. So we had picked her up from Percy and Annabeth's place, since we didn't live together at the time, and we went to the park for some fresh air."

Papa cut him off. "Whatever your father says, ignore it. Just let me tell you that, hands down, that was the worst day we possibly ever had."

"Neither of us knew how to change a diaper, or how to make formula, or even how to hold a baby! On top of it all, Zoë hated us. Like, she loathed us with every fibre of her infant being." Dad shook his head at the memory.

"So when the day was over and we gave your cousin back to her parents, even though that day had been absolutely gods awful for all of us, something wasn't right." He sighed a little. "There were no wails of hunger or rare shrieks of delight or frantic yelling from your dad and I echoing through the house. It was so quiet, so strange, Bianca. And I couldn't place it at the time. Neither could your dad."

"We decided to sleep on it." Dad continued for him. "And when we woke up, again- Bia, it was such a weird feeling. Anyways, a few days later Percy and Annabeth invited us for dinner with Hazel, Frank, Leo, Calypso, Piper, and Jason. Piper and Jason brought Jackie and Tom, Leo and Cal brought Esperanza, and Percy and Annabeth had Zoë, Luke, and Charlie."

"Yeah, you can imagine how abso-fucking-lutely downright WEIRD it was when we were there, surrounded by those screaming children, and felt at PEACE for the first time in three or four days. I think your dad almost cried at one point." Papa snorted.

"Shut up, Death Boy. Anyway, we realized what was wrong. You know what it was?" Dad asked softly.

"We wanted to become parents. Life without someone to love- I mean, we had each other but it wasn't the same as having a child. And so…" Papa smoothed my hair down with one hand. "You were introduced to our family. And it was a few days after that all of your aunts and uncles and us decided to share a house. Because demigods- they need their family. It's good to keep your loved ones close because you never know what might happen."

"And just how our lives were off-key before we got you, they would be even more off-key if we lost you. Please, Bia, be safe?" Dad gazed at me, his blue eyes only slightly misty. I decided not to bring it up.

"I promise." I yawned and rolled over. "Good night, Papa, good night, Daddy."

"Good night, Bianca." Papa and Dad each kissed me on the cheek before taking the boys and leaving. A few moments later, Dad popped his head back in.

"Oh, and Bianca? Don't use the laptop when it's time to sleep, m'kay?" he said snarkily. Then, in a nicer tone, he added, "And remember to pack tomorrow morning! We're all getting up early. I will supersonic whistle you if I have to."

"You won't need to." I shot back confidently.

(spoiler: he did use the whistle.)

ASDFGHJKLSDFGHJKFDSDFGHGFDZFXCV I'M SORRY I'M SUCH A SHITTY AUTHOR IT'S BEEN MORE THAN A WEEK SINCE I'VE UPDATED AND I'VE BEEN HAVING MENTAL BREAKDOWNS OVER SCHOOL AND WORK AND I'M SO SORRY OMGOSH THIS CHAPTER IS LITERAL TRASH AGHHHGGGHGHG

(deep breath) (smile) Imma try to update Little Soldier as soon as I can, I've been having writers block over that one.

On the plus side, I'm going to ComicCon with my uncle at the end of this week and I'm sO EXCITED AHHHH!

Thank you for reading my garbage, viewers. You are most kind.

Happy reading, all!