A/N: if you've made it this far in the fic—I don't even have the words. Thank you so, so much, for taking the time to read this. I am beyond grateful.
I've sat down to write a book a million times before, but this is the first story that clicked for me—the one I scraped the sides of my soul to pour onto the page, the one that felt right. To have this kind of positive reception to something so close to my heart means everything.
HUGE shout out to AnnabethGinervaJacksonPotter—thank you for your constant reviews and encouragement, which half the time reminded me this fic (which will become a book) was worth writing.
And the biggest of thank yous to cursedhazel—you have been my constant cheerleader throughout the process of writing this fic. I can never thank you enough for the countless messages and long winded convos. We made it—and I couldn't have done it without your support. Much love.
As a kid, Percy had always hated the idea of going to school on his birthday.
As an adult, going to work on his birthday isn't much better, dream job or no. The whole day, all he can think of is getting home to Nik—their daily ritual of watching Masterchef Junior with snacks from their secret stash while they wait for Annabeth to get home; the way her face will light up when she sings happy birthday to him over a misshapen cake, the promise of the emerald negligee she's let hang visibly in their closet all week.
He loves his job, loves the animals he works with, but he'll always want to be with his family more.
When three o'clock hits, he's waving to the dolphins and jellies without hesitation, blasting Green Day the whole way home. By the time he careens through the front door of their cozy two bedroom apartment, he's keyed up and ready to be far earlier than necessary to Nik's bus stop.
It takes him a minute to notice that Nik is already there, curled into Annabeth's side on the couch, with his legs sprawled across Jason's lap. The kind of thing he comes home to every once in a while, on Game of Thrones new episode days, Jason interchanged with Zoe or Nico for wine nights or Brooklyn Nine-Nine marathons respectively.
"Did you guys have a party and forget to invite me? On my birthday?" he asks curiously, plopping onto the arm of the couch and sliding a familiar arm to ruffle Nik's hair as he presses a kiss to Annabeth's temple.
"Nik and I decided to play hooky today," she explains, smiling up at him. "We had some last minute things to get for you, so you couldn't come, but don't worry, we have lots planned for the rest of the night."
"You're gonna love it, Daddy!" Nik promises earnestly. Annabeth gives him cautionary look, and he rolls his eyes in a way that is adorable as it only can be while he's seven. "I know, Mama, I promise I won't spoil the surprise!"
Percy has to hold in a laugh at the strain evident in Nik's face at holding in the secret. "And how exactly did Uncle Jason get roped into this?"
"He came over to see me and Auntie Piper on tv. We're movie stars," Nik says sagely.
Annabeth strokes a thumb along his cheek. "I was going through old stuff earlier and found the home movies from when he was a baby—Pipes is in almost all of them, it just made sense for him to come over to watch with us." She taps her forearm almost unconsciously, where the feather tattoo she'd gotten in Piper's memory sits, the twin to those adorning both Jason and Leo's skin.
"And you started without me—the disrespect."
Nik clambers over Annabeth to throw his arms around Percy, and she lets out a grunt when a bony elbow grinds into her thigh. "Nikolas Jackson!"
"Sorry, Mama," he says, and pats her leg gently.
Both her boys look over at her with innocent expressions, and she purses her lips with a sigh but turns the video back on.
"Hey, little man!" Piper's voice fills the room, and a crooked shot of Nik in a swing lights up the tv screen. "You're six months old today, so we're commemorating with all of your favorite things while we wait for Mommy's shift to end. Yay!"
Hearing his cue, baby Nik puts his hands together in his best attempt at a clap, which makes seven year old Nik scrunch his nose.
"She loved you so much," Annabeth says wistfully. The words are bittersweet, but it doesn't hurt anymore—she'll always miss Piper, but life goes on—has been going on—and they're so much better having had her in their lives for even the briefest of moments.
"Her and Uncle Luke are the bestest guardian angels." Nik punctuates the words with wide hand gestures, and Percy ruffles his hair.
Jason nods in agreement, pressing on his own tattoo. "That they are."
They finish the videos (Annabeth cries twice), and Percy heads to the kitchen to get a snack, wincing at the boxes all over the floor. "Babe, did you bring more than just the videos out of storage?"
"Yeah, I needed some other stuff, so I figured I'd put Jason to work." She says it casually, but Percy can tell something's up.
Nik whispers (in the too-loud ineffective way most kids do, such that Percy can hear), "Can I do it now?"
He doesn't hear Annabeth's response, just the pitter patter of his son's feet hurrying to his own room.
By the time he makes it back to the living room, hot pocket in hand, Nik is back at Annabeth's side looking giddy. He's trying so hard to suppress his excitement at whatever the surprise is—he's doing his patented figured-out-my-Christmas-present-two-weeks-early mouth clamp (the time when both of his parents' influence is most obvious).
Percy sits back down, biting into the hot pocket—it sears his mouth, but he's hungry enough not to care. It takes him a minute to notice Nik has changed from his school polo into a t-shirt, his arms obscuring the writing. "Is that a new shirt, bud?"
"Yep! Nana helped me pick it out this morning."
"You played hooky with my mom without me?" he demands, turning to Annabeth with a playful scowl.
"I needed her to help me psych myself up for you surprise." She's smiling, but he can see the nerves in his wife's eyes. He knows nothing is really wrong—she would've already told him—but he hates that she's feeling anxious and he's not doing anything to help.
"Everything okay?" A depressive episode, maybe? It wouldn't be the first time she's had to take a mental health day, but—she's been reading, cleaning, not irritable, which all normally show up days before the down swing hits.
She reaches over a hand to squeeze his reassuringly, opening her mouth to explain.
"Daddy, don't you like my shirt?" Nik interrupts.
Percy turns his attention back to the bright blue of the cotton, making himself actually read the thing—and then he double takes at the white lettering that says I'm so cool I'm being promoted to big brother.
For a minute, he just blinks, mouth open. "Oh my god. Oh my—oh my god."
"Words would be good, Perce," Jason advises with a laugh, watching Percy's heart explode and Annabeth's anxiety mount all at once.
"I—I love your shirt, kiddo." He barely gets the words out, voice thick. "Best shirt I've ever seen."
Annabeth meets his eye, biting her lip. "Yeah?"
"I—yes. God, Wise Girl, I can't believe this is real."
"The baby is in her belly," Nik informs him, leaning his head onto his father's lap. "She says that's just how they grow, but I really think she ate it."
"I wouldn't put it past her," Percy whispers conspiratorially.
And Annabeth just feels her heart swell—she loves her family so much she can't believe it sometimes. Percy's the best dad ever (she's completely unbiased), and Nik is going to love this baby with his whole heart—is going to protect it fiercely, she already knows.
And they're ready—Nik is the best kid in the world, but there were so many moments of terror, so many times she worried about the circumstances of his conception, or about being able to keep a roof over his head. But this time, she and Percy are graduates, have careers, have a crib she already conned Jason into setting up in their room for them, the whole shebang.
Later, when they're curled up in bed together, sweaty from making good use of the green negligee after Nik has gone to sleep, Percy trails his finger back and forth across her stomach (unbeknownst to them, she'll start showing a mere week later).
"You're growing our kid right now," he whispers.
"I'm growing our kid right now," she confirms, draping her arm across his chest. "Is it bad that I only thought to take a pregnancy test because I've had to pee constantly?"
"I would say yes, but considering you're up almost a cup size and neither of us thought anything of it, so I have no room to talk."
She nods her head in agreement. "Yeah, that should have given it away a month ago." She weaves one hand through the short waves of his hair. "I—I'm really glad it's you, this time." The words are quiet—she says them like she's nervous to bring down the mood, to bring up something so dark in this happiest of moments.
(But it's her only other experience to contrast this with, and—it's a world of difference, being excited to tell someone you love that you're having a child. To not be terrified of them finding out, to know they already love the baby as much as you do.)
"Me too." He rubs her back gently. "I'm sorry you were alone, before. You know I'll wait on you hand and foot this time around."
"I know," she smiles softly.
And she does—knows this plus sign means nothing but joy for them (even if it's made her think more than she'd like about some of her harder memories).
She presses her lips to his neck, gently and then more insistently, and Percy raises his eyebrows at her. "Someone's full of energy today," he comments, even as he immediately begins returning her affections.
"It's not my fault—this is one hundred percent the baby's fault. Hormones," she states, and he snorts even as he joins their bodies together, knowing that's going to be her excuse for everything under the sun until the baby is born.
"Love you," she reminds him softly afterward, voice breathy in his ear, every inch of flesh still pressed up against him.
"I love you," he promises in return. Sits up, just enough to press a kiss to her abdomen. "And you," he says, voice wobbling.
/
Six months later, they name her Eva Piper, and Nik refuses to let her out of his arms for nearly an hour.
Nico brings a teddy bear (which Eva will keep with her till adulthood), Thalia will teach her karate, and Percy gets both Nik and Eva's names tattooed on his chest (which Annabeth makes fun of him for but secretly makes her cry). Percy tells the kids stories, and Nik sings Eva to sleep (wobbly and off key), and Mrs. O'Leary guards them both like her own puppies.
Eva will hate math (which breaks her mother's heart), and Nik thinks history is a bore (which makes his father proud). Their family will always go way too crazy for Halloween and Christmas, and their weekly movie night is sacred. No fighting is allowed on birthdays, mental health days are encouraged, and everyone gets home immediately when Nana says she's heading over with cookies. Things aren't perfect, but there isn't a single moment Nik or Eva ever doubts that they're loved.
(Annabeth can breathe, now.)
A/N: just to reiterate, this fic will likely only be up in totality for a few months bc im renovating it into my own book (AHHHH) and will take it down whenever I actually start the pub process (seriously I can't believe this is real.)
**if you want to beta, PM w/ your name, age, email, and genres you typically read**
Anyway, thank you so SO much for reading this. I for real can't believe the journey I've made as a writer in the last year, how much this fic means to me-it's surreal. Thank you for letting me be so brutally real and put so much of myself into this story. If you've spent a single minute reading this, I love you.