To with yo mamma- Um... gesundheit? O.o
To Awesome as Annabeth- You're very welcome, even though that was more than a month ago :/ And yes, the Daily Olympus, I couldn't think of anything else :P
Apologises for not udpating this one in FOREVER- I had half a chapter written and then didn't know where to go from there. So, a bit of a heads-up: this chapter is entirely drabble, but there's Leoisa, kind of, so I hope it's OK! :D
Louisa twisted the water filled bubble carefully. The oceanic flower Leo had gotten for her was still alive, contained in its sphere. It had been for nearly a year; she was very proud of herself for keeping it going this long. Every other day she had to mix some of her power into the water to refresh the salty state of it. This flower would not survive in fresh water conditions.
Leo came in, holding a diaper at arm's length with his other hand over his nose. He dropped it in the bin and quickly washed his hands. Louisa put the flower back in the tank on the window sill, wiggling her fingers to disperse the refreshed sea water. She turned to see Leo shuddering.
"You OK?" She laughed.
"Forget gas bombs. Use dirty diapers." He wiped his hands dry on the front of her shirt, smoothly wrapping his arms around her waist when she glowered at him. "You can do the next one. Oooh, your flower's glowing." She twisted in his arms. Her flower was glowing- that hadn't happened before. She moved forward to inspect it. Leo didn't let go and trailed after her, resting his chin on her shoulder when she stopped. "Why is it glowing?" He asked. "Flower gleam and glow-"
"Stop right there."
"OK." Leo watched interestedly as his chica charmed the water to release the flower in a bubble. It spun slowly, the light pulsing gently from it a soft pale blue and green, distorting in the water and reminding Leo of the Northern Lights. A sweet, oceanic scent whispered through the air, eradicating the dirty diaper smell.
The glow died, leaving the flower as it usually looked.
"Most strange." Louisa commented, returning the flower to the tank.
"Maybe it's an anti-diaper flower." Leo suggested. He had a feeling she was rolling her eyes at him and spun her round, grinning. "I'm an idiot, I know, but you love me for it." Her expression softened. "Aah, you do!"
"Well, I'd have thought marriage 'n' a baby would mean that, but I don't know." She poked him on the forehead. "Leo-World is weird."
"Not as weird as Louisa-World." He countered cheekily, kissing her on the cheek. Louisa smirked. Leo got to kiss her properly. Then Elsie started crying.
"I've got it." She told him, squeezing his hands. "You make food."
"Valdez special!" He declared happily. Louisa cast her eyes skyward and left him to it. Leo grinned to himself and danced about the kitchen, pulling pots, pans and ingredients from all over the place. Nothing in their kitchen was organised. If there was a space, they would put something there. To most, it would be chaos. To two ADHD demigods, it was heaven.
Elsie squirmed in her blankets, mewling hungrily. Louisa could hear Leo clattering about the kitchen and it was no wonder the infant couldn't really sleep. Sighing at Leo's idiocy, Louisa stooped and relieved Elsie from her bedding. She was just under a month old. They had gotten used to the sleepless nights and had worked out a system, taking it in turns to get up and tend to their daughter. Leo got very excited when it was his turn- he still couldn't get over the fact that he was now a daddy.
"Little madam." Louisa grumbled, setting Elsie against her shoulder. Elsie whinged at her, chewing on her fingers. Leo had already decided she would grow up to be like her mother, "but a few Valdez traits wouldn't go amiss. Like what, you ask? Well, duh. My awesomeness, although that may be a bit too much to inherit." He was absolutely certain that, in a few years, Elsie would be giving Louisa run for her money.
Leo had already mixed up Elsie's bottle for her and left it on the counter. He was at the stove, humming away. Louisa wasn't sure what he was making, but it smelt delicious.
Elsie quietened the second she tasted milk. Louisa sighed in relief, leaning her back against Leo's, titling her head back to rest on his shoulder. "Little madam." She repeated.
"I wonder where she got that from."
"Shut up, Valdez." He laughed, the muscles in his back contracting slightly. "Idiot." She muttered. He blew a raspberry and reached for a spice pot. "What are ya makin'?"
"Valdez special." Elsie hiccoughed. Leo twisted his arm round and took the bottle. Louisa sat Elsie up against her chest, patting her on the back. "Lou?"
"Mm?"
"You OK?"
"Mm-hm."
"Want to go back to Camp and terrorize Piper?"
"Gods, yes." She rearranged Elsie and took the bottle back. Leo was warm against her back and really comfortable. "This weekend?"
"Sure. But no fighting." Leo winced as she dug her heel into his. "I will pay you for a quiet weekend."
"Oh really?"
"Um..." Leo stirred the pan's contents. "In a way."
"Ugh." He envisioned her rolling her eyes and wriggled free to get the spaghetti. "You're makin' spag bol, ain't ya?"
"WIth a Valdez twist."
"Joy." But she looked interested all the same, inspecting the sauce. Leo retrieved a clean spoon and fed her some, blowing on it beforehand to cool it. "OK, hurry up, I'm hungry."
They left for Camp the following morning. Elsie slept on the drive over, her blanket twisted about her legs and Tigger in her tiny hands. Leo kept glancing at her in the rear view mirror, grinning and squeezing Louisa's hand gratefully every time he did so. Louisa crushed his fingers a few times, cracking his knuckles. His smile never wavered.
Louisa and Piper had sort of cleared the air. Leo suspected it was because Piper wanted to coo over Elsie and babysit whenever she could. Louisa and Percy, however, were still at war. Leo had tried to be the peacemaker between the two, but his brother-in-law glared when Leo approached. He looked absolutely murderous when Leo tried to talk to him, not even listening when Leo apologised. Annabeth eventually told him to leave Percy alone. "I'll sort him out, don't worry." She promised.
Leo relayed his concerns to Louisa. "I know he annoys you, chica, but all this tension is driving me crazy. OK, people usually want to kill me. I've never known Percy to though." He paused. "He's scary." Louisa looked amused. "You're not helping."
"Oh, he'll get over himself. Just stay away 'til he does. He's a dead man if he hurts ya."
"I knew you cared." Leo teased. Louisa booted him in the shin; Leo hopped about in pain and she tripped him up. "Stubborn moo." He groaned. Louisa smiled sweetly and pulled him to his feet. "You're confusing."
"Thank you." His eyes slid past her and his smile wilted into a sheepish look. He let go of her hand as it started to heat up and flames crackled in his hair. Louisa pointed it out, leaving him to extinguish himself while she stormed over to her brother. "What is ya problem?" She demanded. Percy scowled and folded his arms over his chest.
"You know what."
"Leave Leo alone, he ain't done nothin' wrong." He scoffed disbelievingly. Louisa clenched her fists. "Get over it, Percy, it's done."
"It'd have been nice to know when it started." He growled.
"Twins!" Annabeth was there. Piper stumbled behind her, cuddling Elsie. Louisa and Percy fumed at each other. "Right, that's enough. Percy, Lou is perfectly capable of and is allowed to make her own choices. Lou, Percy has a right to know important things and there's no point shutting him out because it makes things worse. You two are going to stop fighting right now and make up. Percy, don't be mean to Leo, he's your best friend and he makes your sister happy. Lou, let Percy take Elsie for a couple of hours to get his head sorted out." Annabeth turned to Piper. "Hand her over."
"Ooooh, do I have to?" Piper complained. "She's so cute!"
"Only for a little while." Annabeth smiled. "Leo, take Lou to calm down somewhere." Percy bristled angrily, but then he was holding his niece. She stared up at him with warm brown eyes, a line of drool trickling down her chin. He barely noticed Leo taking Louisa by the hand and leading her away.
In Bunker Nine, Louisa set about smashing things in temper. Leo was glad she didn't take her temper out on any inventions of his, but it was still mayhem. She threw tools, she kicked boxes, smashed a random vase with dead flowers, pulled down shelves, cleared cluttered work benches in one swift movement and kicked the wall. When she was done, it was like a tornado had crashed through her. Which was true- her temper had kickstarted her powers and she was cocooned in a miniature hurricane.
She glowered at the mess she had made, realised what she had done and turned to Leo, an apology on her lips. Her hurricane dissipated. Leo held up a hand and straightened from leaning against the workbench. He enveloped her in his arms. "Feel better?"
"No." She mumbled. "Sorry I-"
"No, don't apologise. I'd been meaning to sort through those boxes anyway." Louisa sighed miserably, her arms sliding about him. Leo held her until she calmed down entirely, massaging soothing circles into her back. He talked quietly to her in Spanish. She didn't understand his words, but his exotic tone lightened her mood. She loved it when he talked Spanish. "Right, you sit here." He directed her to a nearby bench. He pulled a tin of breath mints from his belt, put those back and summoned a Mars Bar instead. "Eat that and watch me work, 'cos I know how much you love to look at me." She just hummed, more focused on the chocolate. Leo huffed sulkily and moved around the bench. Louisa turned and shifted to the other side, swinging her legs over the edge. This side of the bench was tidier, having escaped her tantrum.
"What are ya makin' now?"
"I feel like making a sword. I don't know why."
"Fair enough." Louisa sat quietly as he worked. He melted down a sheet of Celestial bronze, throwing handfuls of fire into the forge. While that melted, he got the mould for an average Greek sword. The liquid metal was poured in and he smoothed it out. It cooled a bit to make a solid shape and he prised it free, drawing a mallet from a neighbouring bench. He kept the blade heated as he hit it into shape, but: "Ya shirt's on fire." He glanced down. His T-shirt had been reduced to smouldering tatters.
"Oops." Leo tore the remains off and cheekily threw them at her, flexing. Louisa lobbed the burnt material back, doing her best to look unamused. Leo saw right past that, grinned, and turned back to his work.
Admittedly, he wasn't as scrawny as he used to be. He hadn't transformed into a hulking mass of muscle over the past few years, but he had filled out a bit. The muscle he did have was lean and it suited him. "You're checking me out, aren't you?" He smirked over his shoulder.
"No." Louisa lied. "I'm just thinkin' ya really, really sweaty." Leo sniggered and flipepd the sword over, striking it a few more times. Louisa slid down from the bench and found the big bucket of water. The blade hissed as it cooled and the water bubbled. Leo leant over and kissed her, grinning knowingly. Louisa wrinkled her nose and made out that he smelt.
"You can deny it all you want, chica, I know you dig me."
"I will stab you with that sword." She wanred, setting down the bucket and moving to the grindstone. It was an old-fashioned one where you had to turn the handle on the side a few times to get it going.
"No you won't." Leo smiled, placing the sword on the stone. Sparks flew. "You totally want me." He insisted over the noise.
"I want you ta take a shower, yeah."
"I don't smell!" She smirked. "You wait until I've made a few more of these- I'll smell then." He twisted the blade and sharpened the other side. Louisa left him to find strips of leather for the grip. It was in one of the boxes she had kicked.
Leo was testing the sword when she got back. He could make a sword, but he certainly couldn't use one. Louisa disarmed him easily, fastened the grip and tested its weight.
"Not for me. Maybe Piper or Annabeth." She stabbed a work bench. The enchanted metal cracked it right down the middle. "It'll work nicely though."
"Glad I have your approval. But I needed that bench."
"Oh, there are hundreds just like it." She handed the sword back. Leo stared at her. "What?"
"Nothing."
"No, tell me." He shook his head and turned away. Louisa grabbed him by the arm and forced him to spin back round. "Tell me." She ordered. Leo smiled, his warm hand reaching up to cup her face. He ran his thumb over her lips and kissed her lightly.
"Te amo, chica."
"Te amo too, idiot."
See, drabble. Sorry! I'll try and get some better updates written over the weekend. If I don't, Happy Mother's Day to all the mums out there! :D