AN: Here's the next chapter! Thank you so much for the awesome reviews!

Guess what? I'm a 7th grader now! Woot!

~Caitlin

Percy's PoV:

I looked down at her in surprise.

She was fast asleep.

Maybe she was talking in a dream? She might've not even be talking to me, I thought to myself. I shook my head, and dozed off to sleep.

Annabeth's PoV:

I tried to keep myself from getting red, as the words tumbled out of my mouth. Doing my best to keep still, I could feel his eyes moving to look down at me.

Don't move, Annabeth. I commanded myself. He shook his head and fell asleep.

I waited about twenty minutes, and then opened my eyes to look at him. His head was leaned up against the leather couch, his mouth slightly open. "You drool in your sleep," I said quietly, giggling softly.

I found myself snuggling up closer to his warm body, although I wasn't much of a snuggler. My eyes drooped slowly, and I fell into a deep sleep.

When I woke up hours later, the smell of pancakes and bacon wafted into my nose, making my stomach growl. My eyes fluttered open, my stomach getting the better of me. I saw Percy looking at me, a grin on his face. "C'mon Sleeping Beauty! Time for breakfast!" he said, as Ben thundered down the stairs.

"Bweakfast!" Ben cried, pulling me to the table. I laughed.

"It smells good, Seaweed Brain. When did you learn to cook so well?" I asked, taking a seat.

"I'm a self-learner, Wise Girl. When you're a single father with a boy like Ben, you've got to know how to cook more than the regular men's standard- cereal," he said, grinning, as he flipped a pancake onto my plate. "You also have to know how to perform and cook at the same time. You womenfolk aren't the only ones who know how to multitask."

He flipped a pancake onto Ben's plate, and we digged in. Ben wolfed down four pancakes. He patted his stomach appreciatively, and licked his lips. Then he burped. "Esqueeze me," he said, giggling. Percy tickled him, with a mock anger face.

I laughed, then hiccupped. Percy turned to me, with an evil glint in his eyes. "Oh - hiccup- gods," I stammered.

"Hiccup," he said, and I hiccupped.

"Go to Hades," I growled.

Percy's PoV:

After another hour or so, Annabeth left.

I finished cleaning up the kitchen, and turned to Ben. "Do you want to go visit your Grandma Sally?" I asked him. He nodded, and ran upstairs to get ready. We left within fifteen minutes.

When we arrived, my mom was sitting in her rocking chair that she kept on the front porch, cradling a cup of coffee in her wrinkled hands. She smiled as I drove up onto the driveway. I got Ben out of the car, and went to greet my mom. "Hey, Mom," I said, giving her a hug. Then she gave Ben a hug, who happily jumped into her arms.

"Gwandmaw Sawee!" he cried.

"Its so nice to see you," she said, smiling warmly at Ben and I. She took us into the house, where she made my favorite for Ben and I- hot chocolate with honey. We sat at the kitchen table. Ben was trying to catch all of the marshmallows floating around, his tongue sticking slightly out of the side of his mouth, a strange habit of his when he's concentrating. He held the cup to his mouth, and just poured it all in. When he put it back down, a chocolate milk moustache was above his top lip, and he giggled, licking it off.

"Are we going to have a funeral for Paul?" I asked her, after a few moments of silence. She didn't answer for a while.

Then her eyes met mine, and there- I didn't see sadness, but hope. "He would want a small ceremony. Nothing to drastic, just a simple occaision. Maybe a few family members, and some family friends," she said, fiddling with her thumbs. I nodded. "How about we do it this weekend? I- I've put it off for such a long time, but... I think now, he'd want it in winter. He always loved winter, did you know? It was his favorite season," she said wistfully.

I stared at my cup, watching the marshmallows get smaller as they "melted".

"This weekend? On Sunday?" I asked. Sally nodded.

"I'll call some others. You can call some people, too," she said. We sat in silence again, as I looked up at the memories that she held in this kitchen. There weren't as many as there were in our old apartment, but still.

We moved to the living room, where I found the small shelf where my mom had put my first two trophies. I frowned a little as I remembered the time where I threw a fit about the number of trophies I had:

Tears rolled down my face.

I had just come back from my soccer awards ceremony, where they'd given trophies for some stuff, like "All-Star Player" or "Team Favorite". I remembered yelling at my mom, asking her why she'd signed me up for that stupid team anyway.

In my hand, a tiny, plastic trophy read "Participation".

"EVERYONE ELSE GOT TWO TROPHIES!" I screamed, my anger flooding out in tears. My mom had wrapped her arms around me, comforting me.

"You're special in your own way, Percy. Hey- maybe they couldn't come up with an award for someone who is as good as you," she said, playing with my hair. I sniffled, but didn't protest. You never get too old for your mom to tell you ego-boosting lies.

When I turned to my mom, I could feel a tear leaking out of my eye. Mom and Annabeth had always called me one of those sensitive guys- and they say its a good thing. But it kinda lowers my masculinity, don't ya think?

"I love you, Mom, you know that, right?" I said, taking her hand in mine. She nodded, a small smile forming at her lips. Then she gestured me to follow her to the fireplace, where a small black box was perched on the white tile.

She handed the white box to me, and pressed it into my hands.

"This is the ring your father gave me, as a token- a reminder. When you find your special person, you give that to her. It means a lot, son," she said. I looked into her eyes, and nodded. "You know who I'm talking about, don't you?" she asked, eyebrows raised. I smiled.

I thought I'd never have the guts to admit it, but now, out of all times, it seemed right.

"I know. As soon as possible," I promised, hugging her.

On the car drive back, I made a phone call.

"Hey- Annabeth? Yeah, uh, do you wanna go ice skating tomorrow?"

Cheesy ending to the chapter?

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