Chapter 20
Disclaimer: I do not own the PJ or HoO series by Rick Riodan.
Today was the day I was absolutely dreading. Today was Sunday, the day of Lucas's funeral. When I had gotten home on Friday afternoon, John and mom had been waiting for me in the living room.
The first thing my mother had done when I had walked in was give me a huge hug, practically sobbing into my shoulder. I had hugged her too, while rubbing her back. It was almost like we had switched places and I was the mother and she was the daughter. It was quite strange and I don't really want it to happen again with her and I.
After, John had said he had to make some last minutes arrangements for the visitation and the funeral. He left, leaving my mother and I alone. The atmosphere had been sad. We sat on the couch and talked for a while. She had wanted to know what all had been going on at camp and I was happy to fill her in. Anything to change the mood a bit.
When I told her about meeting Apollo, her face lit up a little. She had asked me how I liked him and I had told her that he was nice, but I still didn't know him well enough to have a strong feeling for him. She had nodded her head at this.
We watched TV for a while, not really talking, just letting our minds go blank. It was a welcome feeling for me. I had been stressing about the whole thing with Artemis for the past couple of days, along with Lucas on top of that.
Saturday had been sad, to say the least. The visitation had started at three and several familiar faces had floated in and out. I had held my mom's hand a few times while some of Lucas's co-workers or her friends had come up and said their condolences to us. I had stayed as far away from the open coffin as I could. I could barely handle dead bodies in general and I certainly couldn't handle seeing Lucas's.
The whole evening had dragged on until it ended at six. When everybody had left, my mother and John had gone up to the coffin and said their goodbyes. When they were done, John had asked me if I wanted to say goodbye. I had told him that I wanted some privacy for a few minutes and they had left the room.
I had slowly crept over to the beautiful coffin that had Lucas in it. When I got there, peering inside, he looked as if he were sleeping. The scene had been unnerving. I had kept waiting for him to pop up and tell me that he wasn't actually dead, that the whole thing had been some cruel joke. But, that didn't happen and I knew it never would.
I quietly told him that he had been an amazing father to me and I would miss him forever. I told him that I didn't understand why the fates had been so cruel to take him away from us so soon, but it was what they did. By the time I was done, a few tears had rolled down my cheeks and onto his dress shirt. I had said goodbye then turned on my heel, walking towards the door while wiping at my wet face.
Today, everything was depressing. When I woke up, I looked depressed. I reflected on what Nico had said, about depressed and glum not suiting me. I couldn't agree with him more than I did now.
I went to the kitchen, where my mother was cooking up a storm. There were two giant stacks of pancakes, a plate full of bacon, fresh orange juice and strawberries spread out on the counter.
She turns when she hears me come in and smiles a sad smile. "Lucas always liked a big breakfast. I figured we could try and remember the good things about him today and try not to cry too much." she says.
"I agree. He wouldn't want us to be extremely unhappy." I say, grabbing a plate and loading it with my mother's delicious cooking.
"Oh, Nico stopped by this morning. He said he wanted you to call him when you woke up." she says.
"Okay." I say, stuffing a big bite of pancakes into my mouth.
After breakfast, I went back to my room and started to get ready. I called Nico while getting my black and red polka dotted dress out of my closet. He picked up on the first ring.
"Hey. How is everything?" he asks.
"Depressing. My mom seems a little better than she was yesterday, but she's still down." I say, inspecting the dress.
It was a simple, v-neck dress that fell a few inches above the knees.
"Do you need anything?" he asks.
"If you would come down to the funeral with me, I'd be eternally grateful to you." I say.
"Are you sure it will be fine with your mom?" he asks.
"Yea." I say.
"Okay. I'll be there in fifteen." he says, hanging up.
I sigh and look down at the dress. I loved it because of it's simplicity. I didn't want to wear it to Lucas's funeral. It would tarnish it's beauty for me. I'd never be able to wear it again without thinking of this day.
I go back into my closet, searching for something else, something I didn't like as much but was just as pretty. My eyes fall on the black maxi dress. It was silky and had a v-back and a scoop neck. It was perfect. I had never really liked maxi dresses, but I had thought this one was nice when I had bought it. I had never worn it though.
I take it out and lay it on my bed. I go into my bathroom and do my hair and make-up. Then I change out of my pajamas and into the dress. I look at myself in my three-way mirror. It actually looked really good. I walk away from the mirror and slip on my black TOMS. I put my camp necklace back on then grab my black sequined clutch, which had my phone and chap stick in it, and walk out of my room.
Nico, my mom, and I had left the house shortly after I had come back downstairs. My mother had been in her room getting ready and Nico was in the living room. When I walked in, he turned and looked me up and down, his eyes huge.
"You look stunning." he says, coming over and wrapping me in a hug.
"You don't look too bad yourself." I say, burying my face in his chest. He was wearing all black today. His jeans, shirt, and shoes. All black.
At that moment, my mom decided to come in. Nico and I shot apart faster than lightening.
"Well, are you two ready to go?" she asks, smiling a little. Nico was as red as a fire truck and I'm sure I looked about the same.
"Yea. Come on, Nico." I say, grabbing his hand and walking towards the front door.
When we get to the graveyard, there are already people there. It's mostly family but there are a few people I recognize from yesterday. I grip Nico's hand and he looks over at me and gives me a reassuring smile. It soothes me a bit but I'm still jumpy.
We get out of the car and we're greeted by John. He takes mom over to our seats and sits down with her. Nico and I walk over slowly. He tells me that pretty much the whole camp had wanted to come and support me but he had told them no. They had apparently been a little disappointed but had understood.
"I don't think you realize how much everybody loves you there." he says.
I shrug. It really hadn't occurred to me how much everybody there loved me. It had almost brought me to tears when he told me everybody had wanted to be here, but I calmed myself down. I had to be strong today.
Nico and I get to our seats and the ceremony starts a few minutes later. Mom wasn't crying as much as I thought she would have but, like she said this morning, she wanted to be strong for Lucas, like me.
We got through most of it. When they started to bring over the coffin, Nico nudged me. I looked over at him to see what he wanted. He motioned silently towards an oak tree a few feet away. There was a dark, hulking shadow lurking beside it.
I inwardly groan. I really hadn't wanted to deal with a monster today. And why it had to show up right when they were about to lower the coffin into the ground, I don't know. It would have been much better if it had waited until after the funeral.
Thankfully, we were sitting in the third row and not the front. If we had been, it would have looked really rude sneaking off. I nudge John, who was sitting on my left, and whisper to him that there was a monster over by the oak tree. He pales but tells me to go and handle it. I look back over at Nico and nod. We stand up, crouching, and go towards the tree.
When we get over there, I have my bow out with an arrow notched and Nico has his gleaming black sword. We approach the tree slowly.
As we get closer, the monster becomes clear. It was a giant hellhound. To my amazement, Nico looks back at me and grins. He lowers his sword and starts walking towards the hellhound. I stand there, dumbfounded, as Nico goes up and hugs the ginormous creature.
Surprisingly, it didn't eat him. Then, I recognized the hellhound. It was Mrs. O'Leary, Percy's pet hellhound. I give a small smile and let my bow and arrows transform back into the sun pendant.
I walk over and pet Mrs. O'Leary. I look around and see Percy, Mo, Will, and Annabeth standing by the tree. I gave a small cry of surprise but then run towards them. They all engulf me in a huge hug.
I had never been so happy to have them with me. The hug broke apart and I see Nico standing there with a grin on his face.
"You planned this didn't you?" I ask him, crossing my arms.
He nods and I roll my eyes. I walk over to him and rest my hands behind his neck. I stand on my tip-toes and kiss him.
"I love you." I say.
His smile grows wider and he kisses me. There was a cough and I turn around to see Percy, Mo, and Will blushing furiously. Annabeth was grinning like crazy.
I look past Nico to see the funeral had ended and everybody was getting up from their seats. Mom and John were glancing over here every now and then while talking to some people. They were obviously nervous about the "monster" Nico and I had seen.
"I need to get back over there. Um, pizza after this? My mom is leaving for a spa resort for the rest of the summer this afternoon." I say.
"Sure. We'll meet you at your house in a bit." Mo says.
"Okay." I say, giving them all a grateful glance and kissing Nico one more time before heading back over to the grave site.
A/N:
Was that a good surprise? Nico is such a great boyfriend! I'm gonna go ahead and post the last two chapters today...
XOXO,
Mrs-diAngelo25