Annabeth,

"Hey, Annie."

I smiled to my sister, Ansley.

She was five years older than me, and we had always butted heads since I had been head of our cabin when she was older at Camp. But, a few years ago, we got closer when I moved to LA, where she had set up a practice.

If anything, Ansley's six year old daughter, Penelope, was what brought us together.

Penelope loved her Aunt Annabeth, and she had been the first to have a bad feeling about Henry. And I wished that I had listened to her instead of rolling my eyes and saying, "Kids? Funny, huh?"

Ansley's move to New York had been the talk of both coasts.

My sister went out to California for school, and she met a film major, Lewis. They dated, and they got pregnant with Penelope. They got married by the beach in a beauty ceremony, and they welcomed their little daughter into the world. They made the permanent move to LA when he got into directing, and Ansely became the woman to delivered every super-star's baby.

When problems entered the marriage, Ansley thought it was normal. After all, every couple had problems, and Ansley thought she could fix hers. One weekend, she came home early from a weekend with her dad and Penelope to surprise Lewis with a second honeymoon.

What she found was a twenty-three year old starlet wanting to sleep her way to the top.

Divorce papers were filed, and two plane tickets were bought for a new life in New York.

When I saw those little plus signs on the test, Ansley had been my first call.

Even if she wasn't my sister, I would have trusted her.

She was one of the best in the world after all.

"I had to sneak this away from my assistant. She's pregnant with twins," Ansley held up a poptart, and I smiled my thanks.

I had to skip breakfast this morning because I was too tired to eat (Thank you, Percy), and I had a choice to be late to my first doctor's appointment or grab some food.

I chose the first.

I now regretted it.

"Gods, I can't get enough of these things," I bit into the blueberry poptart, and Ansley smiled as she sat down in her chair, ready to get started on our appointment.

"When I was pregnant with Penelope, I always wanted Sushi. I'm surprise Pen didn't come out Japanese."

I rolled my eyes.

When my sister was working, she had basically developed a script.

Act like she was doing special stuff for her patient. Talk about her daughter. And act like we were talking about this over coffee.

My sister meant it, probably. I mean, she was my sister. But I missed how she usually was.

"So, you are pregnant, Annabeth," my sister smiled, leaning back into her chair, and I smiled.

I knew you were real, Cutie. I mentally told the baby, How about we go sneak some coffee? I know you're tired, too.

I was holding my stomach, silently willing the baby to move around or at least give me support that coffee wouldn't hurt it at all but that she was craving it.

Yes, I thought it was a girl.

Percy tried to remind me that he thought that Noah would be a Noel and not to get to set into baby girl mode. But he wasn't the one sharing a body with the baby. We were close (literally), and I could sense that that little thing growing inside of me was a little girl.

Feeling in a good mood, I was about to share how I felt about the baby's gender, but then I noticed how grim Ansley's face was.

"What? Is-is there something wrong?" I protectively put my hand on my stomach.

"The baby is fine from what I can tell. Well, that is kind of the problem."

I starred at Ansley.

"It's a problem that my baby is alright?"

"No, I know that the baby is fine. No signs of problems or anything. I know that. It's what I don't know that's bothering me."

"What do you mean, Ansley? You're scaring me."

"Do you remember how long it was before I knew about Penelope?"

"Yeah, it was five months. You had to rush to plan the wedding," my arms crossed, trying not to think about my wedding.

Percy and I wanted to wait to know how far along I was before setting a date, and I was scared to do anything without knowing when it would be.

"That got me thinking. I started studying, and I learned about certain complications that come with being a pregnant daughter of Athena."

"Complications?" fear surged through me again.

"It's because of the weird way we were born. Our pregnancies are different. There is no typical Athenian pregnancy."

"There's normal pregnancy anyway, Ansley."

"Well, there are majorities. And the majority of Athenian pregnancy is hard to find. They don't have many symptoms, and their weight gain doesn't start for a while. They don't find out until their second or third trimester in most cases. Some think it was a tactic to hide the baby from the monsters, but the hormones don't show the baby on tests," Ansley explained.

I was getting flustered.

What on earth could she be talking about?

"There are normal pregnancies. Weight gain. They find out at the normal town. All that. It's just rare."

"Then I'm like them. I-I'm gaining weight. I got a plus sign. Y-You just said I'm pregnant," I was getting sick from all of this.

What was Ansley telling me?

"I don't know that."

"It can't be in its second trimester. That would be over three months! I've only been with Percy for one."

Ansley stared at me, waiting for me to connect the dots.

Oh.

My.

Gods.

I felt myself get light-headed, and I felt like I was going to puke.

It-it couldn't be.

This was Percy's baby.

It was.

He picked out names. Percy was reading pregnancy books and even talking with Grover about how he couldn't wait to be a dad again. We told his mom. We were planning our wedding soon. Rachel bought a fish-shaped toy box to remind the baby of its grandfather.

My Seaweed Brain got me knocked up, not… not…

I felt like I was going to cry.

"This-this baby can't be," I put my hand over my stomach, "Henry's."

"It's a possibility, Annabeth."

I kept crying.

"You can tell that I'm pregnant! S-SO you can tell how far along I am? I'll wait, hours if I have to. Just tell me."

I felt like I was going crazy.

I was going crazy.

"There is only one person who can tell, and she's in Tokyo. I have sent your results, but it will take two or three weeks. Maybe even longer."

"I could fly there and get tested faster, Ansley."

"There is a waiting list for this woman, Annabeth. You have better luck from the blood tests coming from me."

"B-But I'm her sister. She could do something for me. You did."

"Because I know you as my sister. You're my daughter's Aunt Annabeth. She'll just know you as someone with the same mom."

"Ansley, this baby can't be Henry's. Percy's picking out names. He's excited. We told his mom," I sobbed into my sweater.

"I will make sure that, the minute I get the results, even if it is at two in the morning, I will call you, Annabeth."

"Thanks," my voice was small as I wiped my tears away.

"I am so sorry, Annabeth," my sister squeezed my hand, "Just calm yourself. This isn't good for the baby."

"Bye, Ansley," I pulled my bag on my shoulder, and Ansley stood.

"Your prenatal vitamins are waiting with the receptionist. We will make an appointment in a month," Ansley tried to act like this was a usual appointment, but even she seemed sad.

"Um, thanks. I'll… yeah, I'll see you later, Ansley," I pulled my bag up higher and nodded a goodbye.

Percy,

I kissed the top of my son's head as I sat beside him on the couch, where he was drinking his green Gatorade (his all-time favorite) and watching Fanboy and Chum Chum.

He was clean despite how he usually came home covered in dirt and sweat, and his cleats had already been cleaned. Instead how he usually would have picked up Oreos and soda, he was snacking on an apple and Gatorade.

So I knew Annabeth was involved.

I could swear that she had Charmspeak.

She could even make him eat carrots.

I had been trying for the last five years to get him to eat carrots. He wouldn't even eat them when he was an infant and I was feeding him with a spoon.

But Annabeth smiled and says, "What are you talking about, Noah? Carrots are delicious."

Suddenly, the war over carrots was over.

"What's up, Shorty?"

"Annabeth made me take a bath. At four, Daddy. Four."

"Well, you were dirty."

"So?"

I rolled my eyes.

"Where is she?"

"Annabeth?"

I nodded.

"She dried me off and told me that she was going to lay down. She started talking about how you wouldn't let her have coffee and about how, if she didn't extremely love you, she probably would have lost her mind from being tired and killed you horribly," Noah shrugged.

He had been hearing that for a while, I guess. So had I…

It was reaching a point where I was about to break down and give her the stupid coffee.

"Lay down?"

Yes, I had heard it so many times that this was the part that stuck out.

Shows something, huh?

"Yeah, she didn't seem to feel good all day," Noah nodded as he took a big bite out of his Granny Smith apple.

I kissed the top of his head again and ruffled his head as I got up, and Noah kept watching the TV.

I knocked at the door.

"Yes?" the voice was small, almost inaudible unless you were really listening for it.

I pushed the door open and closed it behind me, staring at the blonde in the bed.

She had pulled down her blanket to peak at who was at the door.

Her long blonde hair was all over the pillow, and it looked she was still wearing the black turtle neck sweater that she had worn this morning, complaining that we kept the place like an igloo. But what took center stage were her eyes.

Her grey eyes were red from crying.

"What's up, Blondie?" I asked as I sat at the end of the bed, and Annabeth pulled herself up.

"Noah didn't tell you? I'm tired," Annabeth wiped at her eyes with her sleeve and hugged her knees.

"He mainly complained that you made him take a bath."

"He and Sam basically just and rolled around in the mud. It was either he stayed outside or he took a bath."

"I guessed as much," I smirked, "Now why are you crying?"

"I'm not crying," Annabeth's voice was small as she wiped at her eyes again, knowing that she couldn't lie about it anymore.

"Your eyes say something else."

Annabeth hesitated.

"Today was my first doctor appointment."

Fear hit me full force.

Something was wrong with the baby.

Every bad possibility hit me hard.

Could it end up blind? Deaf? Both?

Was it not growing properly?

Would the baby be disfigured?

Was there even a baby anymore?

I felt like I was going to throw up, and I wanted to crawl into bed and hide under the blankets, too.

"Well, Daughters of Athena have weird pregnancies apparently. Because of how we were born or something? I don't know why, but we do," Annabeth wiped at her eyes again, "And Ansley has known this for years! And just freaking told me."

She collapsed to lay down on the bed again, frustrated.

"Annabeth, what happened?" my fear didn't leave any room for me to be nice when I knew she was freaking out.

"Most of them don't find out about their babies until they're in their second or third trimester. They're hormones hide the baby, and they don't show up on tests. They don't start gaining weight until later. And they're symptoms just show up later. Some of them have normal pregnancies, but it is rare."

"Okay?" I didn't understand what the problem was, "So there is a problem with being rare? Does Ansley not know how to take care of you or something? Does that mean problems for the baby?"

"Percy, it's rare."

"So?" I stared at her, and Annabeth kept looking at me like I was a complete Seaweed Brain.

Which I was apparently.

What was the problem?

So what if it was rare?

She knew that she was pregnant and her symptoms were on schedule-

Or were they?

Was she telling me that…

I swallowed hard.

"There is someone in Tokyo who is going to find out how far along I am. But there is a waiting list. It'll be two weeks before we know if I am one of the rare ones or not. Until then, we're just supposed to wait here and go on with our lives."

Annabeth began to cry again.

"S-So, y-y-you think that th-the…the…" my throat ran dry.

"I think the baby is yours," Annabeth leaned up to look at me, "But it's-it's possible that…"

"Henry," the word sounded forced.

It was.

Henry.

I had been jealous of Henry more than I would like to admit.

I was jealous that he proposed to her and she said yes while I was stuck regretting how I messed up with her. I was jealous that he would spend the rest of his life with her instead of me. I was jealous that she was happy with him while she hated me.

My jealousy dimmed down when we got together, but it was still there.

And now it had tripled to whatever it once had been.

Now my baby was his.

"Henry," Annabeth nodded, and she sobbed into a comforter.

I wrapped my arms tightly around her and pulled her close, making her cry even harder. But I knew she needed it.

Hades, I needed it.

"I love you so much," I squeezed her, and Annabeth tears lessened.

"I love you, too," her voice was rickety from all of the crying.

"And I love the baby."

"Even if it isn't…" Annabeth couldn't finish the sentence, so she started over, "I-I want you to be the dad, even if Henry is the father. I want you to be the dad."

"You're going to be a wonderful mother, Annabeth. You're already a good mother, to Noah. This baby is so lucky," I looked down to her, and she smiled her thanks, kissing me gently.

"I owe Noah after making him take a bath. Wanna get some Chinese? Sweet and sour chicken?" she smiled, trying to forget what we were upset about.

If she could do it, so could I.

Or we could both pretend.

"And Birthday Cake ice cream?"

"With chocolate whip cream?"

"Looks like I've got a long trip."

"Hey, it's for Noah!" Annabeth smiled.

"Sure it is," I rolled my eyes as I stood, "Anything else you want while I'm out?"

"Cookie dough sounds wonderful. Maybe some brownie mix to make with Noah. You know, if you're at the store."

I smirked, kissing her one more time.

"We'll be okay," I whispered, and Annabeth nodded.

"Of course we will be," Annabeth ran a hand through my hair, "After everything we have been through, we'll make it. After all, we are Aphrodite's favorite soap opera."

I smiled and nodded.

"I'll go ahead and order the food for you to pick out. Can you write down what you want and what Noah wants? I'm going to change," Annabeth asked as she slid out of her sweater and threw it into the hamper.

"Alright, and I'll start a list with Noah for groceries. You can help finish it out."

"Thanks…" Annabeth called out as she disappeared into the closet, and I started towards the living room to make both lists.

But I couldn't stop thinking about what Annabeth had just told me.

The-The baby may not be mine…

I mean, I knew I would love it, but...

But this was my little baby, and all of a sudden, I find out that it might not be.

I felt like I was going to throw up.

W-What if it really wasn't mine?

What if it was Henry's?

What if that little girl or little boy in there would call Henry "DaDa" instead of me?

I tried to remind myself that I had done this to her.

Annabeth was raising my son and loved him as his own.

I could love her son or daughter, as Annabeth was sure it was, like it was my baby.

But I just wanted… I wanted it to be mine.

I couldn't wait two weeks to find out.

But I had to.

If I had known what came next, I never would have complained about only having to wait two weeks.

That was nothing compared to what happened after that…