xxPercyxx

My mom's blue eyes absolutely lit up, and her face broke into a broad grin. "Percy!" she cried, getting to her feet and hurrying over to where I was standing, still frozen.

She wrapped her arms around me and squeezed, burying her face in my shoulder. I stood still for another few seconds, shell-shocked, before I hesitatingly wrapped my arms around her.

"Mom?" I repeated, unable to believe it.

"Oh, Percy, I've missed you so much," she whispered.

A smile slowly spread across my face as I realized that she was really here. Hugging her tightly, I shut my eyes, relaxing. We stood there for a minute or two, just holding each other.

This may seem completely sappy to most people, but I hadn't seen my mother for four or five months. I had missed her- a lot. Plus, I had been worried about her, all alone with Gabe. It was nice to see her happy and safe.

Frankly, it was just nice to see her.

"Oh, let me look at you," she said, pulling back and beaming up at me. She touched my cheek lightly. "You've gotten taller," she said, sounding overjoyed.

"Are you sure you just haven't gotten shorter?"

She laughed, smacking my arm. "I've only been here five minutes and you're already making fun of me," she scolded jokingly. "You should be ashamed of yourself."

I grinned at her before looking at Poseidon, who was watching the exchange with a slight smile. "Why didn't you tell me she was coming?"

"We wanted it to be a surprise," he said. "I thought you might like to see her on Christmas."

They both smiled at me. My heart seemed to beat a little faster when I realized this was the first time I had ever seen them together.

"Thank you," I told him, hoping he understood how grateful I was.

Mom clapped her hands together. "Let's all sit down and talk," she declared.

We took our seats. Poseidon sat across from us, but my mother sat next to me, still turning to smile at me every couple of seconds. It was obvious that she was as excited to see me as I was to see her.

"How are you, Percy?" she asked, a hint of concern touching her voice.

"I'm fine," I said truthfully. "Honest, Mom, I'm doing great. Once I got settled down here, things, uh, really started working out."

Poseidon hid a smile, and I shot him a look. I didn't really want to spring Annabeth upon my mom right now. She looked overwhelmed just to find me still in one piece.

"That's wonderful, dear," she said. She reached up to brush back a few strands of black hair that had fallen out of her bun.

Poseidon got to his feet. "I'm going to get something to drink," he said. "Sally? Do you want anything?"

"Some water would be nice, thank you, Poseidon," Mom said politely.

As Poseidon left, I watched him, eyes slightly narrowed. Their interaction seemed forced, and more than a little bit awkward. I knew this was the first time they had seen each other in a while, and that they hadn't exactly parted on the best terms, but I thought they'd have gotten over it by now. At least a little bit.

I pushed it out of my mind for the time being and directed my thoughts to my mother. "How are you?" I asked, turning to her. "I mean, really. Has Gabe been giving you any trouble?"

Mom sighed, and her eyes seemed to sadden slightly. "Oh, he's the same," she said. "Nothing much has changed. He did have a job for a while, though."

"How long did it take him to get fired?" I asked dryly.

She winced. "Two weeks," she admitted.

I rolled my eyes. "Just ditch him, Mom!" I said.

"Percy-"

"No, listen to me," I said firmly. "I don't get it! He's horrible, yet you stay with him. I know that he was fine when we first met him, but he's not going to get better. You could have any guy you want, you could go to school, write full time- you could do anything if it weren't for him! Why do you stay with him?"

Mom looked at me sadly. "I know how you feel," she said quietly. "And I understand. Maybe one day…" she took a deep breath, straightened her shoulders, and forced a smile. "Let's not talk about this now. I want to talk about you. I haven't seen you for months! How's school?"

I frowned, not happy at the change of subject, but let it go for now. "It's alright," I said. "I'm getting B's." Well, except for math. But I had a C+ there, I could fix that. She didn't need to know about it.

Mom looked stunned. "Really? Oh, that's great, Percy, good job! You really must be working hard this year."

"I decided it would be interesting to see what would happen if I actually tried." Not to mention I had Annabeth as my tutor, and she got very annoyed very fast if I didn't pay attention.

"That's my boy," she said, beaming at me. "I knew you had it in you."

"Here we are," Poseidon said, walking back into the room with a glass of water.

"Thank you," Mom said as she took it.

When Poseidon took his seat again, he said, "Now then, we should probably decide what we want to do for Christmas tomorrow. I normally don't do much, but it's up to you two."

I exchanged looks with my mom, and we both raised our eyebrows. The prospects of a holiday all to ourselves without Gabe hanging around was foreign to us. We had no traditions to bring to Poseidon.

"I was thinking we would keep it low-key," Mom said. "Just stay around the house. I was thinking of maybe cooking a turkey or something."

Poseidon smiled. "That sounds good," he said. "Percy?"

I shrugged. "Sure."

It sounded fantastic to me.

"Alright," Mom announced, "now that that's out of the way, let's talk about dinner. Poseidon and I were talking about going out, Percy. Is that alright?"

"'Course," I said.

Mom smiled. She was probably more than a little bit surprised that I wasn't being difficult like I had always been back in San Francisco.

"Excellent," Poseidon said. "Percy, go grab a jacket, I'll get the car started."

Mom glanced at Poseidon, looking doubtful.

"Right," I said, getting to my feet and walking out of the room.

When I got to the doorway, I lingered for a moment, my ears perked.

Yes, yes, I was trying to eavesdrop, and for that I was a horrible person, blah blah blah. Call it a force of habit. I liked eavesdropping. Especially when I was positive my parents were going to talk about me. What teenager wouldn't want to know what their parents were saying about them behind their back?

I wasn't disappointed.

"You ready, Sally?" Poseidon asked. I could hear the sofa creaking as he got to his feet again.

"Poseidon," Mom said, sounding slightly shocked. "What… what did you do? He's so different!"

"I didn't do anything," Poseidon said. "I let Percy do what he needed to do. Maybe he just needed a change of scenery. I've only gotten one call from the principal, and that's been discussed." He paused. "He's a good kid, Sally."

"I know," she said quietly. "He's always been a good kid. He just got a little bit lost."

Poseidon took us to this fancy restaurant farther in the city. It was crowded with people in fancy dresses and tuxedos, what with it being Christmas Eve. I got the idea he was trying to impress Mom, but I didn't make any comments. Besides, the expression on her face when we were seated in that expensive-looking restaurant was pretty amusing. She wasn't exactly accustomed to spending so much money on one meal.

"I don't think they have blue pancakes," she whispered to me out of the corner of her mouth.

I snorted and hid my face behind my menu so my dad wouldn't see.

Years ago, Smelly Gabe had made the mistake of telling my mom that there was no such thing as blue food (which, by the way, is idiotic). They had had this whole big argument about it. I was ten at the time, and remembered spending that night in my room listening to their screaming, terrified that something bad was going to happen.

The next day, Mom made blue pancakes.

After that, she had gone out of her way to serve only blue foods. Blueberries, blue corn-chips, blue jelly beans, anything she could get her hands on. Gabe had learned not to say anything to her about it anymore.

I had always been proud of my mom for that little rebellious streak, no matter how small it may seem to others.

Dinner had been pretty fun, I guess. Poseidon and Mom obviously were still awkward around each other, and it didn't help that I stayed as quiet as possible to try and force them into talking. They still managed to drag me into conversations, but I hoped that getting them to talk a bit more would ease the tension.

Poseidon paid when we were finished and we all left. I was glad to get out of there. The live music had just come on, and it was quite irritating trying to eat your meal when you had a violin scratching away at your ears. More than once I had had to restrain myself from throwing a meatball at them.

We ducked through the crowds to the car, trying to avoid being trampled to death by all the last-minute shoppers trooping in and out of the stores. I had to admit, though, these people were pretty brave. If I had to make the decision between coming out here when it's this crowded or just trying to make up an excuse as to why I couldn't get anyone presents this year, I would have gone with the latter choice. There were some pretty persistent old ladies out there with really sharp elbows.

Mom turned on Christmas songs as we drove back, smiling. I rolled my eyes in the back seat but didn't say anything. As she hummed 'Jingle Bells' to herself, Poseidon met my eyes in the rear-view mirror. I had to quickly duck out of the way before we both burst out laughing.

It was late when we got back to the house. Well, late by my mom's standards: 9:00.

"Alright, off to bed, Percy," she said as we walked in. "You can't be awake when Santa gets here."

I flushed red. Santa was a sore point for me. Mom had kept up the act until I was twelve, and since I believed everything she said, I had believed in Santa Clause through middle school. And let me tell you, it didn't exactly help the teasing I had already gotten.

"You guys aren't going to try to put up that charade, are you?" I complained.

"What charade?" Poseidon asked innocently, dropping the keys on the table.

"You know what I mean," I said crossly.

Mom leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. "Goodnight, Percy," she said.

I sighed, resigning myself to my fate. "Goodnight," I muttered, turning and trudging up the stairs.

When I got into my room I kicked off my shoes and crossed over to the window. Peeking out, I glanced at Annabeth's window. Her curtains were drawn, but the faint light peeping out around the edges told me that she was in there, probably reading a book before bed.

I smiled and drew my curtains shut. Walking over to my bed, I sat down, still grinning.

Maybe- just maybe- this Christmas wouldn't be quite as bad as the ones before it.

There's something about Christmas that makes everyone wake up early. Most people would say it was the good cheer and magic in the air, or the promise of presents and family fun waiting later in the day. I, however, thought there was a much more plausible explanation. Maybe businesses spiked their eggnog with something that woke us up early so we could drink more eggnog, or there were satellites overhead that sent messages into our brains that forced us to get up and be jolly.

Or maybe I just have way too big of an imagination.

Either way, I was up at 7 in the morning, exhausted but unable to go back to sleep. I knew Poseidon wouldn't be up yet; he only got up early when he had to go to work. My mother was the same, but she was also known to get up at the oddest times and make waffles or cookies or something like that. Who knew who could be in the kitchen right now?

So I forced myself out of bed and grabbed a blanket, unable to stand the chill that permeated the entire house. Someone had turned off the heater last night. Padding out into the hallway and downstairs, I became aware of some noises in the kitchen: clinking silverware.

"Morning," I said, shuffling into the room.

Mom looked up from the table. She was stirring a cup of tea distractedly, one hand holding open a book.

"Good morning, sweetheart," she said, smiling. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas," I said, dropping into the seat across from her with a yawn.

"You're up early," she noted.

"So are you."

"I couldn't sleep very well," she sighed. "Plus, the time change is going to take some getting used to."

I wrapped my blanket tighter around me. "What are you reading?"

"Sherlock Holmes," Mom said, holding the cover up for me.

I raised my eyebrows. "I thought you didn't care much for mysteries."

Mom shrugged. "I like a good one here and there. Besides, these are classic." She stuck her book mark in between the pages to mark her spot and closed the book, picking up her tea.

"Have you written anything recently?"

"No," she said, looking disappointed. "I haven't had the time. I've had to work overtime to help pay for this trip."

"I'm sorry," I said, feeling a little bit bad that she had had to work even harder than she usually did just to visit me.

Mom looked surprised. "Oh, don't be silly, Percy," she said. "It was worth every minute. I'm so happy to see you again."

I returned her smile. "I'm glad to see you again, too."

She cradled her mug, warming her hands. A thoughtful expression crossed her face. "You do like your father, don't you, Percy?" she asked earnestly.

I hesitated. "Yes," I said, when she started frowning. "Yeah, Mom, I do. It just took me a little bit to get used to… well, actually having a father."

Mom winced slightly. "Yeah," she said quietly. "That must have been difficult." She frowned into her tea. "I made the right choice, didn't I? Sending you here?"

She glanced back up at me, looking worried, and I realized how difficult sending me here had been for her. I had known, of course, that she hadn't exactly liked it; it had been my fault for forcing her hand. My mother was normally sure about everything. She always knew what to do and say. Now, however, she looked doubtful, as though she wasn't sure what I really felt about her forcing me to come to New York. As though she thought I would be angry with her.

I leaned forward in my seat, closer towards her. "Yes," I said simply. "Yes, Mom, you made exactly the right choice. I was out of hand. And you shouldn't have to deal with that. Giving me a change of scenery like this really helped me." I smiled gently at her. "Thank you."

Mom put a hand to her mouth and was silent for a moment. Then, giving me a watery smile, she stood up and walked around the table, leaning down to give me a hug.

"Oh, Percy," she whispered. "I love you so much."

When she pulled back, she laughed slightly. "I think that's enough Christmas sappiness for one holiday," she said, straightening up. "Would you help me get breakfast ready? I'm going to make pancakes."

I raised my eyebrows. "Will they be blue?"

Mom shuffled over to the cabinets and started rifling through them, looking for the supplies she needed. "What other color would they be?" she asked.

Grinning, I disentangled myself from the blanket and stood up, walking over to join her at the counter.

We settled into a routine. She did all the cooking, while I, with my superb knowledge of where everything actually was, fetched her whatever she needed. I was perfectly fine with my job, especially when she let me try and flip one and it ended up on the ground.

"You can drop anything, can't you," Mom said, watching me clean it up with an amused expression.

I looked up at where she was leaning against the stove, her arms crossed. "It's a talent," I muttered, scrubbing the batter off the ground with a paper towel. When I had gotten it all I sat back, sighing. "You can finish the rest of them."

When we were nearly finished Poseidon wandered in, still looking half-asleep and very confused.

"What's going on?" he yawned.

"We're making pancakes," Mom said, flipping the latest batch. "Merry Christmas, Poseidon."

"Mm," Poseidon said, "Merry Christmas." He looked at the table, where a plate of blue pancakes sat, ready to be eaten. He stared at it, a small smile on his face. "Why are they blue?"

Mom and I glanced at each other, small smiles on our faces. "We're just switching things up a little bit," Mom said innocently.

I grabbed three plates out of the cabinet and put them on the table. Poseidon sat down at the head of the table and blearily surveyed the breakfast.

"Shouldn't we open presents first?" he asked.

"We'll open presents afterwards," Mom said, picking up the frying pan and walking over to the table, "when you have woken up." She scooped the fresh pancakes onto the plate, raising an eyebrow at Poseidon. He smiled sheepishly at her.

"Thanks."

I sat down and speared a pile of pancakes, dumping them onto my plate. Then I promptly drowned them in syrup, ignoring my mom's wrinkled nose.

"Don't do that," she scolded. "You completely ruin the pancakes that way!"

I frowned up at her. "He's doing it," I said, gesturing to Poseidon.

My father looked up from where he was pouring a sea of syrup onto his pancakes. "Huh?" he asked blankly.

Mom just rolled her eyes and turned off the stove before joining us at the table. As I took a bite of my breakfast, I closed my eyes, grinning. Oh, how I had missed these pancakes. I wasn't sure what my mom did to them, but they tasted like pure heaven in the form of flapjacks.

"They're great," I said, eagerly digging into them.

Mom poured syrup on hers. "I've had lots of practice," she said, "what with you asking for them every single day."

"I like pancakes," I said, my mouth full.

"I've noticed," Mom said wryly.

Breakfast was silent. I was too busy with my pancakes to talk to anyone, and Poseidon was still half-asleep. Mom glanced at him occasionally, a small smile on her face as he nodded off, started, then went back to poking at his meal.

After three servings of pancakes, I set down my fork, feeling stuffed. "Alright, now I'm full," I announced, getting to my feet and grabbing my plate and placing it in the sink.

Mom looked up from her book, which she had picked up again as soon as she had finished almost fifteen minutes ago. "Alright," she said, putting her bookmark back in. "We can open presents again. Come on, Poseidon."

She stood up, but Poseidon didn't move. I looked over to see him fast asleep, his head balanced on his chin. He was snoring lightly, his mouth open.

Mom rolled her eyes. "Oh, for the- Poseidon, wake up." She leaned over and gave his shoulder a shove. His head slipped off his hand and his eyes sprang open. He let out a small gasp. "What?"

"It's present time," Mom said matter-of-factly, grabbing her book and tucking it under arm. Turning, she marched off into the living room, leaving Poseidon staring after her with an incredulous.

"Did she just- I-" he spluttered, his hair in complete disarray.

I grinned as I walked past him. "I do believe this is the most flustered I've ever seen you," I teased him.

I could feel Poseidon's glare on me as I joined my mom in the living room.

A couple seconds later Poseidon shuffled in, looking disgruntled. He sat down in his chair with a loud thud, sighing. "Alright," he said, "who's opening first."

"Oh, Percy, open that silver one right there," Mom said eagerly, pointing to the tree. "It's from Santa."

I shot her a look, but obligingly kneeled down next to the tree and picked up the small silver present. I frowned as I inspected it; it was flimsy, like an article of clothing. I took a deep breath as I pulled the ribbon off. Not socks, not socks, not socks…

I yanked the wrapping paper off and out fell a shirt. Blinking, I shook it out and lifted it up to the light to see it better. It was a nice, blue, button-down polo shirt, much fancier than I wore on an everyday basis. I looked over at Mom, who was beaming at me.

"Oh, I'll just tell you," she said. "It wasn't Santa that brought that, it was me."

"Really," I said, trying to look surprised.

"I thought you might need a nice shirt," she explained. "All you have are those old t-shirts." She smiled. "Do you like it?"

She looked extraordinarily proud of herself. "Yeah, Mom, it's great!" I said, feigning excitement. "It's exactly what I needed!"

I thought I was overdoing it a bit, but my mother nodded to herself. "Oh, I knew you would." She craned her head to look at the tree. "Grab that brown one there. It's for Poseidon."

Poseidon blinked, perking up a bit at the mention of his name. "Sorry?"

I grabbed the package she pointed out. It felt a lot like mine, and I was pretty sure I knew what was in there. Turning around, I tossed it to my father, who caught it, still looking slightly surprised.

"Open it," Mom said eagerly, her eyes shining. She loved giving presents a lot more than she liked receiving them.

Poseidon ripped through the wrapping paper, looking curious. He pulled out an horribly exciting Hawaiian shirt: bright orange with multicolored parrots flying around on it. I raised my eyebrows, surprised at the sudden shock of color.

"You always used to love shirts like that," Mom explained. "I thought, well, if your tastes hadn't changed…"

"Gee, Sally," he said, holding it up to get a better look at it. He beamed at my mother, looking genuinely excited by his present. "It's fantastic! I don't have one like this, it's exactly what I wanted. Thank you!"

Mom smiled proudly. "Of course."

I surveyed the presents still left under the tree. "Gosh, Mom," I said, frowning. "I'm sorry. I didn't know you were coming, so I didn't get you a gift."

She waved it off. "Oh, I don't mind, Percy. You couldn't have known."

"Oh, Percy, that green one there," Poseidon said. "That's for you, Sally."

Mom frowned as I handed her the present. "Poseidon, you didn't have to."

"Just open it," Poseidon said.

She hesitated before carefully slitting the wrapping paper. She gingerly unwrapped it, taking care not to rip the paper. When she uncovered what was in it, she put a hand over her mouth.

"Oh, Poseidon," she said quietly. "Oh, wow."

"What is it?" I asked curiously.

Mom lifted a book out of the paper and held it up for me. It was a journal, beautifully bound in blue, with an 'S' printed in gold on the cover. It was locked with a gold clasp. Mom reached back into the paper and grabbed a small, seashell-shaped key and carefully unlocked it. The pages inside were cream-colored and perfectly pristine, just waiting to be written on.

"You always had those cheap notebooks that you would write on," Poseidon said. Mom stared at the journal, her eyes wide. Poseidon frowned slightly. "I thought, uh, you would maybe want something nicer to write your stories with. Of course, you probably have a laptop or something now, but you always… well, if you don't like it, we can always return-"

He was interrupted when Mom sprang up and walked over to throw her arms around him. "Oh, Poseidon, I love it!" she said.

Taken by surprise, Poseidon hesitantly returned her hug. "You do?"

Mom pulled back, beaming. "It's wonderful. It's the nicest journal I've ever had." She returned to her seat, picking it up and leafing through the pages. "I'm going to write so many things in here. It's perfect." She looked up and smiled at him. "Thank you."

He smiled back at her, and for a moment they sat there, on opposite sides of the room, their presents in their hands. I turned away, looking back at the tree. I didn't know what was going on, but whatever it was, they deserved some privacy.

Sweeping my eyes over the tree, I glimpsed another present poking out from under the branches. Grabbing it, I slid it out. It was a long, rectangular box wrapped in orange paper. Looking at the name tag, I recognized it as the one I had seen weeks ago, the one from Poseidon to me.

"Hey," I said, turning around, "I'm going to open this one."

Mom looked up from her journal, which she was carefully locking again. "Go ahead, dear."

Poseidon looked over, and his interest seemed to pique. He sat forward as I unwrapped the present to reveal a cardboard box.

Turning it over, I pulled the flaps open. Reaching in, my fingers closed around something, and I hesitated for a moment before pulling it out.

"No way," I said, letting out an incredulous laugh. I looked up at my dad, who was grinning. "Seriously?"

"I think you can be trusted with this one," he said.

I spun the wheels on the skateboard, watching them glide seamlessly. I set it on the ground and rolled it with my hand, examining the polished wood. "This is wicked!"

Poseidon frowned. "That's good, right?"

"Of course that's good!" I said, looking over at him. My smile died a little bit. "Are you sure about this? I mean, after what happened to the last one…"

"I'm trusting that you will hold your temper this time," he warned. "If anything happens to this one, I'm not going to be very happy."

"It'll be fine," I promised. "Thanks a lot!"

"Am I missing something?" Mom asked, frowning.

Poseidon and I glanced at each other, and we silently decided not to tell her about my little temper tantrum. "No, he just really wanted a skateboard," Poseidon said.

"I'm going to try it out," I said, getting to my feet.

"No, you aren't," Mom said. "You're going to help your father clean up the living room, and then you're going to get dressed. Wear your new shirt!"

"Mom," I groaned.

"No arguing," she warned, getting to her feet. "I'm going to go start on the turkey for dinner."

Disappointed, I set the skateboard down. Poseidon sat back in his chair, nodding. "Yes, Percy, listen to your mother. Clean up the living room."

"Poseidon Jackson, help your son!" Mom called from the kitchen.

Poseidon hurriedly got up and knelt down next to me on the floor. As he dutifully started gathering up the discarded wrapping paper, I snickered. He threw a wad of paper at me, which I easily dodged. "Oh, be quiet."

We collected all of the ripped paper and ribbons and stuffed them into a trash bag. Poseidon carried it outside while I grabbed my shirt, making a face at it.

I appreciated my mom's effort. She was right; I probably did need a shirt like that. But that didn't mean I wanted one.

Trudging upstairs to my room, I pulled off my shirt and tossed it in the general direction of my dirty clothes bin. Then I shrugged on the button-down, already feeling uncomfortable and over-dressed.

After tugging on a pair of jeans, I headed downstairs again. Poseidon was already lounging on the sofa in the living room, wearing his fluorescent orange shirt. He tipped his head back to look at me as I walked by.

"Nice shirt."

"Likewise."

Mom was digging through the pantry, pulling out all kinds of spices. When she saw me, her face brightened. "You look so handsome, dear!" she said, setting down the seasoning she was holding and walking over to me. Biting her lip, she fiddled around with the shirt, smoothing it down. "It fits perfectly. Wonderful."

I smiled at her. "Yeah. Do you need any help?"

"Well," she said, looking around the kitchen, "I could definitely use your help figuring out where everything is. Then you can peel the potatoes, and, oh, maybe chop the broccoli, and-"

Yup, I thought as she went on and on, I'm going to be here all day.

There was a knock on the door at about noon.

"I'll get it," I said, putting down the potato I was right in the middle of peeling. Mom nodded distractedly, peeking into the pot on the stove to see if the water was boiling.

We had been cooking for a while now, and I had to admit it wasn't that bad. My mother managed to make anything fun; plus, Poseidon had turned on the television and had made it his personal mission to find every cheesy Christmas movie he could. We had spent a majority of the time yelling back and forth to each other, calling out the actors for being overly-dramatic, or the plots totally implausible.

"This guy fell off a roof trying to put up Christmas lights and didn't get a single scratch," Poseidon said, staring at the movie that was currently on. He shook his head. "I'm surprised he didn't fall right into his girlfriend's arms."

I grinned as I walked past him on my way to the front door. "No, that happened in the other movie, remember?"

Poseidon sighed, grabbing the remote. "Time to find a new movie."

I reached the front door and unlocked it before pulling it open. Annabeth was standing outside, smiling broadly and holding a wrapped present. She was wearing a chestnut brown sweater, and her hair was done up in her usual curly ponytail.

"Merry Christmas!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around me.

I laughed, returning her hug. "Merry Christmas, Wise Girl."

She pulled back and glanced at my shirt, eyebrows raised. "That's a new one," she said, sounding amused.

I rolled my eyes. "It was a present, thank you very much."

"You look very handsome," she teased.

"I'd better," I grumbled.

She shook her finger at me. "Hey. No grumpiness, Seaweed Brain. It's Christmas."

"Really? I hadn't noticed."

She laughed. "Do you have to be so sarcastic?"

I grinned. "Yes," I said, leaning in to give her a quick kiss.

"Percy?" Mom called from the kitchen. "Who was it?"

Annabeth pulled away, frowning over my shoulder. "Who was that?" she asked, confused.

"Oh, my mom," I said.

Annabeth looked surprised. "Your mom? You said she wasn't going to be coming for Christmas!"

I shrugged. "She showed up last night. Apparently they wanted it to be a surprise."

Annabeth looked excited. "That's so sweet!" she exclaimed. "Can I meet her?"

"Sure," I said, grinning at her excitement. "Just a warning, though. I haven't actually told her about you."

Annabeth narrowed her eyes. "Sorry?"

"I didn't want her to die of shock by telling her I had a girlfriend," I explained hurriedly.

Annabeth just sighed. "Seaweed brain," she muttered under her breath, marching past me into the house. I hurried to catch up to her, shutting the door.

"Merry Christmas, Mr. Jackson," Annabeth greeted as she walked past him.

He looked up and beamed at her. "Merry Christmas, Annabeth."

Together we walked into the kitchen, where my mother was chopping herbs. She looked up as we walked in, and confusion crossed her face. "Oh," she said, setting down the knife. "Hello."

"Mom, this is my friend Annabeth," I introduced. "She lives next door."

Annabeth smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Jackson."

Mom's face lit up. "Oh, you're a friend of Percy's!" she said, smiling kindly. She came forward and warmly shook Annabeth's hand. "It's lovely to meet you, dear."

Annabeth glanced at me. She was still smiling, but her eyes were warning me that if I didn't say something, she would.

Mentally sighing, I said, "Actually, Mom, well… Annabeth isn't… what I mean to say is… um-"

"I'm his girlfriend," Annabeth finished for me as I stumbled though my speech.

I halted. "Yeah, that."

Annabeth raised her eyebrows at me and I smiled sheepishly. My mother, meanwhile, was staring at the two of us, looking shocked.

"You're his girlfriend?" she asked, surprised. "You mean… Percy, you're dating?"

"Yes." At least I could say that without stuttering.

Mom narrowed her eyes at me. "Perseus Jackson, why didn't you tell me before?"

I smiled hopefully at her. "It didn't come up?"

She let out an exasperated sigh. "I don't know what I'm going to do with you," she muttered. Then she turned back to Annabeth, a smile growing on her face. "Oh, this is wonderful!" she said, wrapping her in a hug.

Annabeth smiled, returning the embrace. "Percy has told me a lot about you," she said as they pulled away.

Mom shot me an appraising look. "He has, has he?" She laughed a little. "I'm sorry, dear, I'm a little bit flustered. Percy's never had a girlfriend before."

"Thanks Mom," I sighed as Annabeth laughed.

Mom grabbed a dish towel from the counter and, still smiling broadly, said, "Well, don't let me keep you two. You probably want to talk. Go on, then. It was nice meeting you, Annabeth."

"You too, Mrs. Jackson," Annabeth said as I led the way out of the kitchen.

We walked upstairs to my room, ignoring my father, who was shaking his head at the television screen.

"Your mom is really nice," Annabeth said, shutting the door behind her.

"She's alright," I said with a shrug, sitting down on the bed.

Annabeth set her present down on my desk before joining me on the bed. "You must be happy to see her," she noted.

"More like stunned," I admitted. "I didn't expect to see her here."

She crossed her legs Indian-style, clasping her hands together casually. "Get any good presents?"

"Well, this shirt," I said, tugging at the sleeve of my present with a grimace. "And a skateboard."

Annabeth looked at me doubtfully. "I hope this one doesn't get dropped out of a window."

"I'll try to restrain myself. What presents did you get?"

"A couple books," Annabeth said. "Some clothes. You know, the usual. My parents believe in practical presents on Christmas, none of this extra stuff." She clapped her hands together. "Speaking of presents, I think it's time for you to get yours."

I sat up as she stood up and grabbed the present off the desk. "Catch," she said, tossing it to me.

I caught it easily, surprised by the weight of it. Holding the rectangular package in my hand, I asked, "What is it?"

Annabeth walked over and climbed up onto the bed, lying on her back behind me. "Open it, silly," she said. "I'm not going to tell you."

Not wasting any time being ceremonious about it, I ripped the wrapping paper off. When I saw what it was, I grinned.

"Agatha Christie," I said, reading the title on the front cover.

"You said you wanted more books," Annabeth pointed out. "She was a famous mystery writer. I think that book includes three of her novels. They're all about murders and stuff, I thought you'd like it."

"You thought I'd like murders?" I asked, amused.

"Well you don't seem like one for fairy tales."

I turned around and looked down at where she was lying. "Thank you," I said, leaning down and pressing my lips to hers.

She wrapped her arms around my neck and leaned into it before suddenly pulling away, surprising me. "Where's my present?" she asked.

I raised my eyebrows at her. "What present?"

She narrowed her eyes at me. "Percy-"

"Oh, that present!" I said, sitting up and getting to my feet. "You mean yours? Right, I think I have that somewhere."

I walked over to my desk and pulled open the top drawer. Frowning at the amount of junk in there, I stuck my hand in and rifled through it before pulling out a small present wrapped in blue polka-dot wrapping paper.

"Ta-da," I said, holding it out to her.

Annabeth sat up and scooted to the edge of the bed to grab it. She frowned, turning it over in her hands.

"It's small," she noted.

"Open it."

"Not a book, then," she mused. "It feels like there's a clasp here, so a box. Oh, is it a-"

"Ms. Chase, if you don't open that present immediately, I will have to confiscate it," I warned. "I can't have you figuring out what it is before it's even out of the wrapping paper."

She smiled apologetically. "Right. Sorry," she said, slitting the wrapping paper.

I watched her unwrap it, suddenly nervous. I had talked to everyone about the present- Grover, Thalia, even Nico, although he hadn't been much of a help, as he had recommended I get her the newest zombie video game (thanks, Nico). They had approved, and I thought it was a pretty good present, but who knew? Maybe I had gotten it all wrong. Would she be mad at me if she didn't like it? I didn't think so, but then again, I didn't exactly have a lot of experience in this department. Maybe there was some unspoken law about dating and presents. Like, if it wasn't exactly what she wanted-

Annabeth gasped as she opened the small box. Her eyes widened. I watched anxiously as she reached in and carefully lifted the chain to reveal a necklace with a small owl pendant dangling from it.

"It's, uh, real silver," I said quickly. "And the eyes are diamonds. I know how much you like those owl earrings your dad gave you, so I thought maybe you would like something to match it, like a necklace."

She gently touched the owl. "Where did you get the money for this?" she asked quietly.

"Poseidon," I admitted. "I'm going to work it off, you know, do chores around the house, maybe file papers for him at the office. It'll take a while, but, uh… do you like it?"

Annabeth let out a half-laugh. "Percy, it's beautiful!" she exclaimed.

I felt relief flood through me. "Oh- really?" I grinned. "Good. That's great."

"It's so delicate," she said, examining the owl closely. "And it's just like my earrings." She found the clasp and carefully undid it, wrapping it around her neck and putting it on. She looked down at it and touched it again, beaming. "Percy, it's perfect," she said, looking up at me with shining eyes. "Thank you so much."

I rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly. "I told you I'd find you a present."

She stood up and threw her arms around me, wrapping me in a close hug. "You found me the best present ever," she whispered into my neck.

I smiled victoriously. She pulled away a fraction of an inch to kiss me, twisting her hands into the fabric of my new shirt. It dimly registered in my mind that my mother would probably notice the wrinkles, but I couldn't focus on that at the moment. All I could concentrate on was Annabeth, my hand on her back, her hair gently brushing against my arm, her lips on mine. This kiss was longer than all the others, and hungrier, too; her hand had moved from my shirt to my hair, twisting around her fingers, and I just barely held back a moan at how perfect everything was at this moment in time, and it almost seemed like we would never pull away- until we had to breathe.

We separated, each of us breathing heavily. She rested her head on my shoulder, her cheeks flushed.

"I'll take that as a thank you," I said.

She laughed. "Yes, Seaweed Brain. Thank you." She lifted her head and pulled away slightly, her hands still on my shoulders. "I am so glad your parents didn't come up."

I twirled a strand of her hair around my finger, smirking. "They would have had a heart attack."

"Mmm," she hummed in agreement. She glanced at the clock on my desk. "They're going to come investigate if we stay up here any longer."

"What would they think we're doing?" I asked, rolling my eyes.

Annabeth glanced at me. "Exactly what we were doing."

There was a knock on the door. "Percy? Annabeth?" my mother called. "Do you two need anything? Drinks or something?"

Annabeth stepped away from me. "Told you so," she said in a sing-song voice.

I sighed. Walking over to the door, I opened it a couple inches. My mom was in the hall, looking slightly worried. "We're fine, Mom," I said, smiling reassuringly at her. "We're just talking."

Mom just raised her eyebrows, looking me up and down. I tugged at the back of my shirt, trying to secretly smooth some of the wrinkles away. "You sure?"

"Yes, Mom," I said firmly.

She raised her hands in surrender. "Alright, just checking," she said, a small smile on her face. "I won't bother you anymore."

She walked away, leaving me free to shut the door. I turned back to Annabeth, who was perched on my desk chair, looking amused.

"You're blushing," she said.

"Shut up," I responded.

Annabeth got up, smoothing down her sweater. "We should head back downstairs," she said, reaching up and pulling her ponytail tight again. "My parents are going to come wandering over searching for me, and my dad wouldn't take kindly to hearing I've been in your room for the past forty-five minutes."

I groaned as she walked past me and opened the door again. "Can't we just stay here?" I asked hopefully.

She shot me a look. "No, Seaweed Brain. Come on, let's go help your mother cook."

So the two of us walked back downstairs, flattening down our hair and trying to look as normal as possible. Poseidon had moved from the living room to the kitchen; he was standing at the counter, holding a whisk and a bowl of eggs and looking overall very confused.

"No, whisk it, Poseidon," Sally said in exasperation. "Don't just stab at it."

"What kind of word is whisk anyways?" Poseidon muttered, awkwardly whisking the eggs. "It's stupid, if you ask me."

"Is there anything we can do to help, Ms. Jackson?" Annabeth asked.

Mom glanced at her. "Oh, thank you, dear. I'm sure there's something… here, can you wash the broccoli?"

Annabeth dutifully gathered up the greens and trooped over to the sink. I lingered in the doorway, glancing around.

"Percy, you can continue on the potatoes," my mother said, pointing at the pile of potatoes I had left.

I frowned. "Isn't there something else I can do?"

Mom picked up the vegetable peeler and pressed it into my hand. "Potatoes. Now," she said, smiling sweetly at me.

I grudgingly picked up a potato and started peeling it again, settling back into the routine I thought I had escaped earlier.

Annabeth left about half an hour later. She gave my mother a long hug, and the two of them talked about how nice it was to meet each other and how they hoped they would see each other again, blah, blah, blah. Then she thanked me once more for the necklace, wished my father a merry Christmas, and was on her way.

As soon as the door had shut, my mother said, "I like her."

"Me too," Poseidon added.

"You made a wonderful choice, dear," she said, smiling at me.

"Thanks," I grunted, still mashing the potatoes in the pot.

"Oh, I can't believe my little baby is dating," she said with a small sniff.

"I'm seventeen, Mom," I said, yanking the masher out of the goop.

"You'll always be my baby," she said firmly.

Dinner later that night was practically a feast. Everything ran smoothly until a mini food fight broke out between Poseidon and I, and we started throwing rolls and other dinner items at each other from across the table. Mom half-heartedly tried to put a stop to it, but couldn't stop herself from laughing with us.

We had plenty of left-over's, which was probably what I was going to be eating for the next year or so. We all helped clean up, and when everything was safely put away, it was time for a last cup of eggnog and then bed.

"Goodnight, sweetheart," Mom said, pressing a kiss to the top of my head.

"We're having a rematch at breakfast tomorrow," Poseidon warned, picking a green bean off of his shirt.

"Will you two ever learn to behave?" Mom sighed, leaning over and gently brushing a piece of bread out of his hair.

He smiled up at her. "We haven't exactly had supervision for the past couple of months."

"Maybe that's what you need," she said matter-of-factly, getting up off of the couch and walking into the kitchen to throw the crumbs away.

Poseidon watched her go, a small frown on his face. "Yeah. That's what we need," he said quietly, so softly I knew it wasn't for me to hear. I quickly turned away and walked up the stairs.

I stopped in at the bathroom on my way to my room and shook my head to get anything out of my hair. Man, my father could throw when he wanted to. Then I continued o my way to my bedroom, slipping inside.

Annabeth's present was resting on my desk, and I grinned at it as I pulled off my shirt. Yawning, I rubbed my eyes, crossing over to my bed and flopping back on the covers. I felt strangely content, something I hadn't felt in a long time. Almost as though things were finally starting to work out.

As far as holidays went, I was pretty sure this one was pretty darn good.

A/N: Another long chapter for my wonderful readers. Sorry for not updating super fast, but I wanted to make this a good one. I didn't proofread it, so sorry if there's any typos or anything.

Okay, I really like Sally. I liked her in the original books and I love writing her, so I hope her character was pretty good.

Well, that was quite a lot of sappiness in one chapter. I hope you guys appreciate it, because I'm ready to start causing drama probably in the next chapter, or MAYBE the one after it. Things are a little too happy, don't you think?

Yeah, me too : )

Well, thanks for reading! Please leave a review, and I'll update soon.