Annabeth watched him, smiling. He was infinitely gentle and soft as he adjusted himself and shuffled towards Annabeth on his chair. He didn't even look up. He couldn't have. He was completely mesmerised, utterly smitten with the baby in his arms. His baby. Their daughter.

She had never seen him like this - his attention completely in one place. There was nothing that had kept him like this before, his steady, settled gaze holding on to her with everything he had. There was no need to tap his feet or fidget because she was enough for now.

He looked up at Annabeth and smiled dopily, eyes heavy with relief and exhaustion. He looked beautiful - they both did. She was so tiny, so fragile and new in his arms - strong and pocked with marks and scars, his hands rough and calloused and worked. They were the complete opposites in so many ways, but even now, she could see tiny hints of similarity. Her nose, the shape of her face - even knowing all babies looked pretty much the same, knowing that maybe she was just dreaming, imagining where this was going to lead - she was sure right then and it mattered to her.

"Oh Gods. I'm an actual Dad." He mumbled as he adjusted the blanket around his daughter and she squirmed in his arms, looking up at him briefly with distaste and closing her eyes again. Oh yeah. This was Annabeth's daughter all over. "That's fucking terrifying."

Annabeth laughed quietly beside him, lying on her side with her hand on his shoulder.

"She likes you though."

His smile was gorgeous, even under the harsh white hospital lights. He peeled his eyes away from the baby to look at Annabeth.

"Or she's just tired and doesn't care."

"Nah. She's still awake." She brushed her cheek with the back of her hand, barely even touching her as her eyes opened again, her frown hilarious and undeniably Percy-ish.

"Alright. So she likes me." He admitted, although he couldn't say he understood why. He probably stank and his hands were admittedly a little shaky and rough. But he was her Father and this was the weirdest feeling ever. He had never in his entire life felt love like this. This was a complete different world to Annabeth - now he understood everything his Mom had ever said to him about this. It was different in so many ways. There was no falling with this kind of love; it was an explosion, a complete erruption of chaos in his heart and he didn't know where to look but it was kind of fun.

"No, but really." His smile faded and his eyes turned serious as he looked back at his daughter. "She's so so so so beautiful and I kind of feel like it isn't enough to say that, you know? 'Cause they always say that in films but there isn't any other word for it that I know. And it still probably wouldn't be enough. And I feel like anything I want say to you is completely not enough because Jesus, Annabeth. It was some serious tough shit and I've just been sat here questioning my entire being because you were just so chill and it just looked so easy and I know it's a major bag of dicks but heck, you did it, Wise Girl. I bet Hera's looking at you like 'she is better at childbirth than me and I am the Goddess of Childbirth.' I'm not even kidding. You're amazing and I am pathetically in love with you. Both of you, actually."

She leant over and kissed his cheek.

"Yeah, well. If you want any more you're going to have to wait at least a couple of years."

"Tell me about it. I've reached the top of my stress allowance for now thanks."

Annabeth laughed. This had changed everything. She couldn't believe, after years of wondering if it was even a good idea, that she was a Mother. And she never thought that she'd end up thinking of Percy differently, but she did. She loved him even more. He knew what to say and he knew when to make her laugh and he understood this whole thing more than she did. She put her trust in him completely and he knew exactly what to do. That was more than she could ever ask for.

"Hey." She whispered. "Thank you. I couldn't have -"

"Don't be stu-"

"Percy, don't you dare brush it off. I mean it, alright? Thanks for taking care of me."

He shrugged.

"It's what we do, right? We take care of each other. I don't even think about it, Annabeth."

"That doesn't mean I can't be grateful."

"It means that I don't expect you to thank me."

"But what if I want to?"

"Then I suppose I'll have to deal with it." He leaned over and kissed her with a smile and adjussted his arms a little, getting used to the way she felt when he held her, settling into his weird new title. "This was such a good idea, but Gods am I glad we waited."

He knew, even if he had thought he was a couple of years ago, realistically he was probably nowhere near there. Sure - he could take care of himself well enough, but even after everything, he didn't think he had the emotional maturity to handle this back then. A lot had changed over a short period of time and he had suddenly grown up. He was, admittedly a little kid at heart, even now, but his priorities had changed. He just wanted to settle now. He was fed up of constant nights out, of missing work, of not caring.

He knew it was okay for him to need some time to let it all go - to make up for the years and years of stupidity, of fun that he missed, but to think he was even contemplating having a kid at that time freaked him out a little.

Annabeth, at least, had been realatively sensible and said no - she was in the same place as Percy was. It was something she wanted, but damn, no way was she cool with giving away a couple of months of her career when it was just starting to take off and she was absolutely not going to give up her relaxed, easy life she was living wth Percy.

"Me too." She admitted softly. "You've changed, Seaweed Brain."

"I know."

"Still annoying though." Percy laughed as she touched the corner of his eye. "I think you're getting wrinkles, you know?"

"Please don't say that."

She just smirked, running her finger across the faint lines around his eyes, amazed that he had finally started actually aging and didn't look like a sixteen-year-old kid anymore.

Her gaze settled on her baby, her daughter, with her beautiful hazy green eyes and scattering of freckles and blonde curls. She reperesented the best of her and Percy - she was going to be the best thing they would ever achieve. She was going to be smart and athletic. Brave and kind. Sensitive and funny. She was going to be everything Annabeth wanted to be. She would do anything to give her a better life that she had had.

"I think she looks like a Sophie." She said eventually, half her face squashed into her pillow.

He looked at her for a while, running the back of his hand over the warm roundness of her cheeks. He brushed back a curl in her hair and nodded.

"Well, thank Gods we aren't going for the pretentious Greek name route." He grinned lightly. "Yeah. I'm down for that. Soph suits her."

"I wouldn't do that to the poor kid." She grinned. "Although that was relatively easy, going by any previous attempts we've had at coming up with something."

"It's easier 'cause I at least know what she looks like. I probably would have just brushed it off if I didn't know how well it suited her. Besides, it's such a good name for someone who's like, destined to be a badass."

"I feel like you're automatically assuming she's going to cause trouble."

Percy mouth curled up into a gorgeous, mischievous half-smile. Of course she was going to cause trouble. Neither he or Annabeth could manage to keep trouble out much further than a half-mile radius, on a good day.

"She's our daughter, Annabeth. 'Course she is."

As much as she could lie there and hope she wouldn't, she was a daughter of Athena. Everything she did was based on fact and as much as she hated to admit it, Percy was probably right. She was going to be the definition of trouble, going by her Father's history, with his stupid charm and ridiculous stubborn grip on life.

It would probably piss Athena off but... Annabeth wished she could say she wasn't glad.