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Disclaimer: I am not as nearly as creative as Rick R. So most characters aren't mine except for a little 5 year old blond girl with green eyes.

12 - Back to the Place We Know

Finally, it was Friday. It had been a very long week. I woke up early to run. I ran pushing to the limit. I was still angry to the fact that Joanna was gone.

When I returned, I heard Annabeth in the shower and Pearl crying again under covers. I sat next to her and said: "Hi Pearl. How are you feeling?"

"Bad and sad. I miss my mom, Percy" said Pearl and cried louder.

"It's Ok to feel that way. I know you miss you mom… Today you are coming with me to the office. You can play with Ellie and I will take to get a new bed afterwards. Once Annabeth is back from work, we will go for a weekend trip to Long Island just the three of us. What do you think?" I said. Pearl got out of the covers and smiled.

"Can I choose my bed?" she said.

"Of course, also the bedding. Take a shower while I make breakfast. Annabeth is about to get out" I said and Pearl nodded at me running to her room looking for clothes.

I went to the kitchen and made pancakes. Sooner, Annabeth and Pearl came fresh from the shower ready to eat. I served them the food and I was about to go to the shower when Annabeth stopped me by saying: "Good Morning Percy, have breakfast with us"

"I will take a quick shower. Less than five minutes. Pour me some coffee meanwhile. Good morning, wise girl" I said and kissed Annabeth.

I took me three and a half minutes to come back, a new personal record. We ate together and Annabeth went out early saying something about an early meeting. Pearl and I watched a bit of TV before going to work. We still had time since we had Paul's car.

We got to work early and it was an uneventful morning. Ellie came to the office and the girls played while the rested worked in a dreadful boring pace. At two, we say goodbye to everybody at the office and got in the car to the nearest furniture store.

Those were the longest two hours of my life. A Saleslady named Veronica helped Pearl to choose. Pearl tried all beds and mattresses available. Veronica had infinite patience because after one hour I was ready to strangle Pearl. In the end, Pearl chose a twin over full bunker beds with their mattresses because she wanted sleepover parties with Patrick and Peter; then another hour to choose the bedding and a dresser to match everything. In the end I paid $900 dollars (a small fortune) and we could only take the bedding with us, the rest will be delivered on Monday.

Finally, we got home hungry and tired at six in the afternoon. There were cooking sounds and smells in the kitchen and boxes of books in the hallway.

"Pearl, go to pack for three days. We are leaving after dinner, I guess" I said to Pearl. She nodded and went to her room.

In the kitchen, I found Annabeth chopping lettuce for salad. There was stew on the stove and it smelled heavenly.

"Hi. How was your day?" I asked and kissed Annabeth cheek.

"Ok, I have to make changes in the building we are designing. I got out early and move some stuff around. I already talked to Sean at the office and he will come over for my books. I got a great price for them. I already packed to leave to Camp and talked to Chiron already and he is expecting us. How was your day?" said Annabeth. I poured myself a glass of milk and drank it swiftly.

"Well, work was normal but shopping was brutal. Three hours to get everything and we are $900 dollars poorer" I said.

"It sounds normal to me. Girls take longer to choose things. What did you get for $900?" said Annabeth stirring the stew.

"A bunker bed because Pearl wants sleepovers, two mattresses, a dresser and the bedding. I feel robbed" I said.

"It sounds like a good deal to me and where are the stuff?" asked Annabeth chopping tomatoes for the salad.

"We only brought the bedding and the rest will be delivered on Monday or Tuesday after work" I said setting the table.

After a couple of minutes, dinner was ready. I called Pearl and we ate. Pearl told Annabeth all about the new furniture. It sounded more interesting of what really happened.

After dinner, Annabeth got everything ready to go while Pearl and washed the dishes. Once we were done, we got in the car and I drove to camp. Pearl fell asleep on the journey and Annabeth and I talked about little things.

Camp was the same as usual: Peleus guarding Thalia's tree, the cabins, the sounds of kids laughing and everything. We don't come that often anymore. We are no longer campers since we were eighteen, once a year at the beginning of summer we come to help the new campers. We left the car as near as we could to the camp borders. Pearl was asleep so I carried her all the way to the big house while Annabeth got our bags: one backpack and a light suitcase.

When we got there, dinner and sing-along had just finished. Campers were going to their cabins to sleep. We greeted some kids we knew but most of them were brand new to me.

Chiron was expecting us at the porch in his wheelchair. I guessed he didn't want to scare Pearl. Mr. D was next to him.

"Hello, Percy and Annabeth. I must say this is a surprise. You brought Pearl with you" said Chiron.

"Good to see you Chiron, Mr, D" said Annabeth politely.

"Whatever, Paul and Annie Sue. I am going to bed" said Mr. D leaving us.

"Hi, have you talked to my dad?" I asked

"Yes, Percy. He told me you would bring Pearl for the whole year. Let's go inside" said Chiron.

We entered to the house and sat down on the living room. Annabeth went to the kitchen and brought a tray with coffee mugs. I put Pearl on the couch with her head resting in my lap. She was sound sleeping. Shortly after, Annabeth returned from the kitchen with a tray and served coffee to the three of us.

"Percy, Annabeth. I must say I wasn't expecting Pearl to be so young. Demigods normally came here at seven o eight at the youngest. Could you tell how you find her?" said Chiron and took a sip of coffee.

"Chiron, she found us. We were in Central Park celebrating Percy's birthday and she just ran into us. A monster was chasing her. We took her with us and the next day we found out that her mom was dying in the hospital. She just lost her mother two days ago" said Annabeth.

"That explains a lot" said Chiron. I almost choke my coffee.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Percy, as young as five years old, all your protection from monsters depends on you bond with you mortal parent. Since her mom was dying, that protection was wearing out thereby monsters found her so easily" said Chiron.

"Oh, I see. She can see through the mist and has dreams already. She dreamed about my dad and me, even Sasha" I said.

"That's peculiar. She is far too young to be able to do that. However, she is a daughter of Poseidon and you are very strong demigods as you know… Are you going to spend the weekend?" said Chiron

"Yes, Chiron. We wanted to give Pearl the tour if you don't mind" said Annabeth.

"Jolly good. You should sleep in cabin 3. Annabeth, you cabin is full. I am considering sending some older campers to other cabins or set tents for them. It's a bit crowed right now" said Chiron.

"Thank you, Chiron" said Annabeth.

"How are things at camp?" I asked changing the topic.

"Greatly normal, I must say. We are playing Capture the Flag tomorrow if you want to participate" said Chiron.

"Maybe we just might just watch. Pearl is too young to participate" said Annabeth.

"I could if you want to, Annabeth, so both of you can see me in action" I said and winked at her. Annabeth blushed a bit.

"We'll see about that, seaweed brain… I think is a bit late. Thank you, Chiron. For the coffee and everything" said Annabeth sipping her remaining coffee.

"You are welcome" said Chiron.

"Yes, thank you. We better get to the cabin" I said taking Pearl in my arms. We waved goodbye to Chiron and walked to cabin 3, my old cabin.

It was a bit dusty since no one was using it. Annabeth found a feather duster and cleaned a bit while I placed Pearl in Tyson's old bunk. It wasn't that late but we would have an early morning so we went to bed. It was nice to sleep in old bed with Annabeth in my arms. It brought me only sweet dreams and some making out in the middle of the night, just like old times when Annabeth would sneak here after the Giant War.