Twists and Turns

Chapter 20

When you try your best but you don't succeed
When you get what you want but not what you need
When you feel so tired but you can't sleep
Stuck in reverse

When the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you can't replace
When you love someone but it goes to waste
Could it be worse?

-Fix You, Coldplay

Previously, on Twists and Turns:

Emma gasped, and I felt tears threatening to spill, because it was quite a while since I had set my eyes on the objects inside.

At the very top of the box, the very first object you see is a picture of my mother.

Athena had long, curly brown hair, and an olive complexion. We had the same eye color, a stormy grey. My mother had a curvy figure, and she had a brilliant smile. the same smile that melted my father's heart.

Emma carefully took out the picture, eyeing the woman in it, and then moving the picture so it was next to me. She looked from the picture to me, then back to the picture, and then back to me. "This is your mommy. She's with my mommy now, right?" Emma asked, her blue-grey eyes wide with innocence. I nodded, smiling sadly at her. She shouldn't have to know this, to ask questions like this at such a young age.

She nodded, like she understood what I didn't say, and set the picture down beside her. Emma reached into the porcelain box on my lap, and pulled out a beautiful ring. Mom's wedding ring.

The ring was silver, and it had 3 strips, all woven together to look like a braid, and in the middle lie a stone. It was a white oval piece of opal. My mother didn't care for how much what she was wearing costs, so my father didn't buy her a ring with a gem, but the opal was beautiful.

As Emma scrutinized it, she eyes filled with awe, I thought of how I would have reacted if I was my mother. When the love of my life proposed to me, pulling this ring out of a box. Unconsciously, my mind replaced my dad with Percy. I immediately stopped thinking. I was becoming too attached. Nothing lasted forever.

"Can I wear it?" Emma questioned softly, breaking me out of my reverie. I smiled at her, and nodded. Her little face broke into a smile and she put it on her left pointer finger. It was way too big for her, and would've fallen off if she walked around. I made a mental note to buy her a ring as one of her birthday presents.

"It looks beautiful on you, Emma," I say, tucking a strand of loose hair in her face behind her ear. She nods, finally looking at me, her face still in a massive smile. Just then I hear the front door open, and Percy's voice yells through the apartment.

"I brought your stuff! Hey, where are you?" Percy's confused voice floats through the apartment.

"In here!" I was going to yell back, but then I realize he wouldn't know where here is, "Emma's room!"

Percy walks into the room with the bag of decoration Emma and I picked out for the apartment. Even though I had been living here for two years now, I haven't had enough free time or money to personalize the apartment other than my room. Now, my money is stable and I have more freedom in buying items. And Percy had paid for most of the stuff, and though I believe in feminism I am not complaining.

"Whatcha doin'?" Percy asks childishly while setting down the bags of items.

"Mommy's showing me stuff of her mommy!" Emma excitedly replies, then showing the ring on her finger she adds, "Isn't this pretty?"

Percy loses a bit of the playfulness he had a moment before, but when he saw Emma's excitedness, a grin fell onto his face. "It's beautiful!" He says, sitting down beside Emma, and then setting her in his lap, he scooted closer to me.

"May I?" Percy asks, pointing to the stuff in the box, and I nod, telling him he could pick something.

Percy pulls out a photograph, and it was of me, my mom, and my dad at the beach. We were all laughing or smiling, and I was holding an ice cream. I feel a small smile form on my face. I remember when we took that photo. Dad had stopped a random couple and asked if they could take our picture. I never knew where that photo was until I looked into this box when I found it.

"You look so cute here, Annabeth." Percy murmured, playfully nudging my shoulder. I laugh, and he keeps the photo next to the other one on the pillow.

Emma reaches in and extracts another piece of jewelry. This time it was a locket, a golden one. I'm not sure if that was real gold, I never scratched it to see if it was paint, but I think it isn't real gold.

At first Emma looks confused, looking at the heart shaped necklace for a bit more before I reach over and open in for her. I don't need to look to know what's inside. I spent an hour once just looking at the pictures inside. One was a picture of me right after I was born in Mom's arms, and the other is of me a couple months old, in my dad's arms.

They both looked so young and happy in the pictures. I cried over them for such a long time when I first laid my eyes on them.

Now look at them.

I feel tears start to gather, but I look up and blink them away. I hoped that no one saw that, but no such luck.

"Mommy?" Emma asks worriedly, "Why are you crying?" This, of course, makes Percy look as well. Ugh.

I try and give Emma a smile, but it probably was more of a grimace. "I'm just sad, is all. Don't worry." Emma still looks worried, and Percy closes the locket and setting it down carefully. Then, he wraps an arm around me and pulls me towards him.

I try really hard not to start sobbing, but I hold back the tears and say, "Let's look through the rest of this stuff." I was determined to get through it all. And Percy must have heard it in my voice, and knew he wasn't going to get anywhere trying to convince me not to do this.

He nodded, and reached into the box again. This time, he brought out a little charm. It was a tiny rubber panda, and around its neck was a camera. It was something that would've been on tumblr. I'm pretty sure it was on tumblr somewhere, but I loved it nonetheless, because it was really random but beautiful. My mom was an amazing person.

Emma held it and played with the little camera (which is fake, 'cause, duh), and I made a split second decision. In my mind, I was going to give this to her on her birthday. Maybe I would buy her a bracelet or something to let her hang it on.

I smile. I was going to give something of my mother's to her, and maybe every time she saw it, it would remind her of me. That she would never be alone again.

Then we get to the last item inside the box. A tiny blanket -a handkerchief really. It was mine.

At first Emma and Percy looked confused, and then Percy saw what was stitched on the corner. Annabeth Chase.

"It was mine;" I say softly, "My Mommy gave it to me when I was a baby." Comprehension dawned on Emma's face and she nodded.

After we pack everything back into the porcelain chest and I lock it back, and keep it away in the closet, I decide to unpack the decor we bought. Not much, because my place wasn't as spacious as Percy's, but enough to make my apartment feel more like home.

We bought some fairy lights, but they weren't the ordinary ones, they were in a spherical shape and they gave out a creamy color when you turned them on. Also, tiny glittery stars hung on intervals. Emma was practically drooling when she saw it, and I have to admit, it was really nice.

I wasn't sure where we would put it up though, maybe on Emma's bed, wrapped around the railings at the top of the bed.

We also bought some more fairy lights, and on the tag it said it was called, "Rattan Ball-Style Fairy Lights". They were fairy lights inside some wicker balls. These gave off a fall colored color, an since fall -or autumn, in other countries- is my favorite season, of course I bought them. I thought they would make a good decoration in the back of one of my videos. That reminded me, I needed to film another video.

We also bought some scented tea lights. I loved tea lights, and I recently ran out and didn't have enough time to get any more, and in the meantime I was using some Yankee candles, which are really nice as well, but I try to tone down using them because of how pricey they are.

I also bought some stuff from the arts and crafts store next to it, for some DIYs I wanted to film and to decorate the bookstore. Though I really didn't want to go back, I needed to.

A/N: Done. I was able to do this because of a website called Write or Die, and it basically scares me into writing. So thanks.

I also joined NaNoWriMo, and was wondering if any of you amazing readers are. I'm LethalBookshelves, add me as a writing buddy!

Also, OMG BLOOD OF OLYMPUS WAS AWESOME.

Leave a review, they make my day!

~Mal