A/N: Again, something short I whipped up after reading Calvin and Hobbes- I should give Bill Watterson my thanks...if you know him, tell him I said thanks!
I hope this will satisfy whatever has been left unsatisfied, and I just want to let you know that updates will now take maybe five days to a week from now on as I start to focus more on my other stories which I've kind of been neglecting.
By the way, this is a future fic.
And without further ado, here's the next chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or Calvin and Hobbes
Hailey Jackson stared up at her father, her large, innocent, green eyes boring into his soul, and Percy then realized why Annabeth liked his eyes so much- at that point in time, he'd be willing to do whatever his daughter wanted him to do as long as she would keep on staring at him. It must have been weird for Annabeth to act like that for five years, and he had to have been extremely stupid as a kid not to notice that.
Good thing his stupidity had gone away.
He shook his head, breaking himself out of his reverie, and smiled at her. "What do you want me to read to you for your bedtime story, Hailey?"
She grinned. "Cat in The Hat!"
Percy groaned. "Again?"
"Yes, Dada! You pwomised!"
Oh, she did not just use the "pwomised" word! Or the "Dada" word! Or the large, round, irresistibly cute Bambi eyes that followed those words...
"Oh, all right!" he caved, bringing the book out from the bookshelf. Hailey, who'd soon be the death of him, snuggled deeper into the blankets as her father began to read.
"The sun did not shine, it was too wet to play. So we sat in the house on that cold, cold, wet day-"
"Daddy?"
He peered at her over the book. "Yes?"
"Why do you always read me the bedtime story and not mom?"
He grinned and puffed out his chest. "Because," he said dramatically, "reading the bedtime story is the dad's job."
At the sink, Annabeth, eavesdropping woman that she was, huffed with irritation and placed another plate on the drying rack. "And it seems to be the only dad's job around here!"
Hailey giggled. "Did you leave the dishes for mommy again?"
Percy glared in the general direction of his wife, ignoring his daughter for the moment. "You said 'yes' eight years ago! You can't regret it now!"
"Eight years ago, you actually had a brain!"
"What's that supposed to-hey!"
Albeit she'd usually feel good about riling up Percy Jackson, now was not one of those times. He was the one with the uber cool water powers, not her! Yet, still, she got stuck with the dishes!
Sexism on display. Athena bless America.
"Real intelligent, Percy!"
Percy crossed his arms, quietly grumbling angry comebacks he'd never have the balls to say- at least, not to someone as terrifying as Annabeth. He always hated it when his wife got the upper hand- sometimes it felt like they were fighting more than they were...loving each other. The whole "marriage" thing was overrated.
Hailey, irritated at being ignored (like all other seven-year-olds on the planet felt every single day, whether they had good reason or not), interjected, "Why are you and mommy yelling? Are you fighting?"
Through clenched teeth, Percy said, "No, we're just talking loudly because we love each other."
Annabeth glared from the kitchen. "Because Megan Fox and the director of Transformers loved each other, too, right?"
Oh, that was the last straw. No one, not even a guy's wife, could make a joke out of Megan Fox leaving Transformers and getting replaced with some random British girl! No one.
He yelled in the general direction of the kitchen. "TONIGHT'S STORY IS CALLED 'WHY PRINCE CHARMING STAYED SINGLE!'"
"PRINCE WHAT?!"
A/N: Of course, only the last two bits of dialogue were taken for Calvin and Hobbes, and so was the "dad's job" part. But other than that, I just let the words flow onto the computer, I didn't even stop typing, I just let it all come out.
Most of the time, authors have to stop and think about what they write. I'm lucky that this wasn't one of those times.
Oh, by the way. I'd appreciate it if you guys could tell me how I "bridge the gender gap", so to speak. I try to write from Percy's perspective a lot because I don't know much about guys. Just that they all like COD and they none of them are as cute as Channing Tatum in Dear John.
But seriously, I'd appreciate constructive criticism on that topic! Like, is my rendition of "guy thoughts" accurate? Or are they random hings that don't make sense? Is Percy and Annabeth's relationship realistic? Or do I seem to favor Annabeth too much?
You don't need to answer those exact questions, just, in general, how I'm doing with the gender thing. I'd really appreciate that!
Reviews would be greatly appreciated!
-epicsilverbullet
