Hey, guys.

Thanks so much for all the reviews and new followers/favourites! I'm so glad you guys are enjoying this story as much as I am.

Last chapter, after some confusion about what she really wanted, we saw Annabeth planning her wedding to Percy – with her mum's help. Now, in this chapter, the long-awaited event is finally going to happen: Annabeth and Percy are going to get married. I hope you guys enjoy it :)

Please read, review, favourite and follow!

LilRed17 :)

THE WEDDING: PART ONE

ANNABETH

The next week flew by in a haze of wedding planning, organising, cooking and dress-hunting.

And soon, it was the night before the wedding and Annabeth was hanging her wedding dress in a white garment bag in the closet. She closed the door and stared at the closet for a few minutes, thinking.

"You ready for tomorrow?" She turned and saw Percy behind her, standing in the doorway.

"Yeah." Annabeth went and sat down on the bed, leaning her elbows on her jean-clad knees. She was wearing old jeans of Percy's and one of his oversized T-shirts, tucked into the jeans with a belt. She'd wanted to be comfortable today: she'd finished some final wedding planning and helped Elijah out by waitressing the rest of the day, while he spent some time with the twins.

She glanced over at the cribs; they'd put the twins to bed ages ago and they were both still fast asleep. Ethan was sucking his thumb and Ella was curled up with a blanket clutched securely in her tiny fingers.

Percy came over and sat down beside her. "How are you feeling?"

"Nervous," Annabeth admitted. "How about you?"

"Yeah, a little bit," he replied. "But mostly excited."

She smiled. "Really?"

Percy grinned crookedly and leaned in conspiratorially. "We're getting married, Wise Girl."

Annabeth leaned in and pressed her forehead against his. "I know," she whispered. "Crazy, isn't it?"

Percy thought about it, then shook his head. "No, not really. I always knew we'd end up here."

Annabeth raised her eyebrows and gestured towards the twins. "You did?"

He laughed softly. "Well, no, not this situation exactly. But I knew that you were the one for me, the day you crashed into me outside the restaurant. I saw someone skinny and intelligent and scared and brave – and I saw someone like me. I saw someone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with."

Annabeth smiled radiantly at him and leaned in to press her lips softly against his. Leaning back, she told him, "I love you, Seaweed Brain."

The next day, it seemed like everything began happening all at once.

Percy went to pick up Sally, Paul and Natalie from their hotel at around nine in the morning. They'd been staying there for the past two days, since Natalie was one of the flower girls and Sally had needed to be here to help with last-minute wedding planning.

Eva and Annabeth's father stopped by the apartment and picked up the twins, dropping Eva off at the same time, so she could get ready for the wedding with the rest of the girls. Dr. Chase took both sets of twins – Ethan, Ella, Matthew and Bobby – to their house, where he would join Percy and Paul in getting ready for the wedding. They'd all agreed it would be a lot less hectic for Ethan and Ella at the Chases' house, than it would be at Annabeth and Percy's apartment.

Annabeth had decided early on not to have a maid-of-honour; instead, she'd named Natalie her only flower girl and her father would hold the rings.

Around twelve – the wedding was to take place at five – Eva, Sally, Natalie and Annabeth all congregated at the apartment.

It was a whirlwind of makeup, dresses, heels, curling irons, nail polish and flowers, as they helped Natalie get ready first. She took about an hour altogether and looked even more gorgeous when they'd finished. Her brown hair had been curled and was now in a half-up, half-down hairstyle. She wore a crown of pale blue and white flowers. She hadn't needed makeup and, as Sally had pointed out, she was only five. Her flower girl dress was a simple white shift dress with a wide ribbon tied around the middle. She wore cream-coloured ballet flats and carried a small wickerwork basket filled to the brim with the same flowers she wore in a crown on her head.

Then Eva and Sally began helping Annabeth, having already applied their own makeup earlier that day.

Annabeth had no idea where to begin. She only knew the most basic makeup skills, like mascara and lipstick. Even those had gone out the window in her years living as Tony's girlfriend.

But the women in her family – family, she realised with a jolt – knew what they were doing. In about an hour and a half, they'd transformed her into something akin to one of the blushing brides she'd seen pictures of in the wedding magazines she'd read.

Loose braids encircled her head, but they'd left the rest down, in a natural waterfall of blonde curls. Tiny white and pale blue flowers had been woven into her braids. Her makeup was as natural as it could possibly be. Her skin was glowing with a rosy light; her eyelashes had been enhanced and lengthened with mascara; artfully-applied eye shadow made her grey eyes sparkle; her lips shone with a pale pink lipstick.

Annabeth thanked Eva and Sally over and over again, hugging them both and feeling joy spread from her heart outwards, coating her in warmth. She was getting married today.

Annabeth crossed the room, took the white garment bag out of the closet and headed into the bathroom. She quickly changed out of the robe she was wearing and into her wedding dress. She found shoes in the bottom of the bag and slipped them on.

As soon as she exited the bathroom, she heard gasps from Sally, Eva and Natalie.

It was a simple white shift dress. The lace top had a sweetheart neckline with thin straps. An organdie band wrapped around her middle, leading to the skirt – organza – which ebbed and flowed around her legs. She wore simple cream-coloured ballet flats underneath.

"Oh, you're gorgeous," Eva breathed.

"Truly, Annabeth, you're a vision," Sally told me, her eyes wide.

Natalie simply beamed and cried, "Princess Annabeth!"

They all laughed and Annabeth felt her eyes burning as she hugged Eva, then Sally, then both her flower girls. As she stood up, she caught sight of the clock and saw that it was nearly four. Her eyes widened. "Oh, crap, we'd better move."

As the others hurried to and down the stairs in front of her – the limo was waiting outside, a wedding present from Sally and Paul – Annabeth felt nerves settle in her stomach and swallowed hard.

Taking the first step down the stairs, she steeled her jaw and thought determinedly, I'm getting married today.

THE WEDDING: PART TWO

PERCY

Percy stood on the beach, waiting for the girls to arrive. Waves lapped gently at the shore, a few metres behind the arch entwined with ropes of twinkle lights.

The priest had arrived twenty minutes ago, in his own car. He was now behind Percy, underneath the arch, going over the vows under his breath.

Percy smoothed down the cuffs of his tux and gently touched the small sprig of pale blue and white flowers pinned to his buttonhole. He glanced at the men scattered behind him, wondering if they felt the same nervous-excited emotions that he was experiencing.

Annabeth's father, Dr. Chase, held Ethan in his arms as he talked amiably to Paul, who was cradling little Ella. The twins' bright eyes – grey and bright green, respectively – were taking everything in, watching as the sun set slowly on the horizon. Twilight was approaching – and with it, their wedding.

Dr. Chase and Paul both wore pale grey suits, with the same sprigs of flowers in their buttonholes that Percy wore. Matthew and Bobby were chasing each other on the sand – they'd been allowed to wear sneakers, on the condition that they wear shirts and suit jackets. Percy grinned at the pair of them as he imagined his own twins, years from now, playing tag on the beach together, as he and Annabeth ran after them, laughing.

It was a happy image. Percy only hoped that one day it could come true.

The rumbling of an engine drew his attention to the road ahead of them. The men stopped talking and Percy heard Dr. Chase calling his boys over to them.

The limo pulled up to the curb and the door opened. Percy held his breath.

Out stepped Eva and his mother, both looking beautiful and elegant as they began walking down the beach towards their respective husbands. Percy watched as, when they arrived at the arch, Eva hugged each of the twins and stood beside Dr. Chase, kissing his cheek and caressing Ethan's head. He smiled at his own mother as she pressed a kiss to Ella's cheek and hugged Paul with one arm, then looked back at the limo.

Natalie stepped out and Percy's eyes widened. His little sister looked beautiful – so, so gorgeous. A cool breeze stirred her brown curls as her round brown eyes, framed by fragile black eyelashes, widened at the wedding setup in front of her. There was no music – they'd wanted simple and natural, so Natalie began walking towards the arch, slowly pulling handfuls of flower petals from the wickerwork basket she held, scattering them along the sand as she approached them.

When she was about halfway towards them, Annabeth stepped out of the limo.

And Percy couldn't see anything else.

Annabeth was beautiful – exquisite, timeless, classic, stunning. Her blonde hair, curled and braided loosely, was stirred by the cool breeze circling the beach. Her grey eyes sparkled and were framed by black lashes that brushed her cheeks every time she blinked. Her lips shone pale pink in the fading sunlight.

Her dress was beautiful. It was a simple white shift dress, with a sweetheart neckline, thin straps and a long skirt that flowed around her legs. As she walked down the beach, her foot peeked out from under the hem, covered in a cream-coloured ballet flat.

She reached him, seemingly in no time at all. As her blue eyes met his green ones, he saw them widen and warmth flood into them. He stared at her and felt his mouth widen into a smile.

They were really doing this.

Throughout the whole ceremony, Percy barely heard a word of what the priest was saying. All he could see was Annabeth, as she listened to the wedding vows. Suddenly, he heard his name and found himself repeating the vows they'd written and submitted days earlier.

Then it was Annabeth's turn. She smiled at him and the sun seemed to shine out of her as she repeated, her eyes sparkling, "I promise to be your lover, companion and friend. Your partner in parenthood. Your ally in conflict. Your greatest fan and your toughest adversary. Your comrade in adventure. Your student and your teacher. Your consolation in disappointment. Your accomplice in mischief. This is my sacred vow to you, my equal in all things. All things."

"The rings, if you please," the priest stated, calmly. Dr. Chase stepped forward, pale but determined and handed Percy the rings. Annabeth reached forward and hugged him tightly, whispering something to him, then let him go and stepped back. As he walked away, Percy saw a bittersweet expression on his face and saw Eva hug her husband to him, as if comforting him even as they celebrated their daughter's happiness.

"Percy, do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do." Percy said it with all the love in his heart, with no hesitation. As he slid the ring onto her finger, Percy felt a surreal feeling rise up inside of him.

"Annabeth, do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do." Her voice rang out clearly, like a bell. Annabeth slid the ring onto his left hand and in that moment, Percy couldn't have been happier.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Approaching her, Percy cupped his hands around Annabeth's face, inclined his head towards hers and kissed her gently, pouring all his love for her into that kiss.

As he released her, Percy met her grey eyes, sparkling up at him with joy and mischief. He heard their family applauding around them, but he just smiled down at his wife – his Annabeth – holding her tight.

They'd done it.