I woke up the next day with a great deal of optimism, quickly getting dressed and eating before running from my palace to Artemis', when I got outside the door I paused for a moment then knocked thrice, for a few moments I waited, then the door burst open,"You got here much earlier than I thought," Artemis stood in the doorway in a tank-top and sports leggings, her hands were trying to fix her hair as she kicked her trainers onto her feet, I just smiled at her as she put her hair into a ponytail,"So, date in New York huh? How many rom-coms did you watch to get inspiration for that corn ball?" I chuckled lightly at her comment then held the goddess close to me as I flashed us to a cafe that Percy and I go to all the time, we got a table and sat together, we got our drinks and talked for ages, at some point we must of left, as at one moment we were chatting away and the next I was sitting on my couch with Artemis kissing me ferociously.
Not wanting to spoil a great make out session I held her close while she peppered my face with kisses, she pulled away for a moment to breath and I started to work on giving her neck a hickey, she gasped at my action and clutched onto my head and just as I was finished with her neck there was a few knocks on the door,"Ignore them," I murmured as I tried to kiss her again,"Oh come on you started this!" she just chuckled as she sat down and kicked me off of the couch,"You owe me Arty!" as I walked over to the door the knocking became more forceful, so I ran over quickly, Apollo stood before me,"Yes?" I asked as I fought the urge to tell him to leave while I made out with his sister.
Apollo's face was in a bright grin,"She's waking up!" I heard a bump from my living room, I asked him if he was sure,"Yeah, your mum's waking up, she's started talking in her sleep and her eyes look like their about to open!" I told him to go and tell my father and shut the door, running over to Artemis and giving her one last kiss before apologising to her and flashing away. The room that my mum was in was filled with people, there was my dad, Apollo, a few minor gods and goddesses and after a few seconds Artemis arrived, the God of the Sun saw me and called me over and told everyone non-familiar to leave,"That means you too sis," I quickly turned to the god and told him that Artemis could stay.
For ten minutes we waited, my father sitting on a chair, deathly silent the entire time, Artemis was talking with her brother in hushed voices as I slowly sat next to my dad, I was getting a tad annoyed when my father gasped, I turned to my mum and saw her looking around the room confused, not knowing what to do I stayed sitting, my dad obviously knew though, he was right at her side in an instant, hugging her, if she were mortal I would have feared for her bones, but she was a Primordial,"Nyx, I've missed you so much!" my father exclaimed as he captured my mothers lips with his, he sat next to her for a moment and held her hand as she tried to recall the people around her, she seemed to know Artemis and Apollo immediately but she looked at me with confusion for a moment, then her face grew fearful.
"How long was I in Tartarus?" this being the first time I ever heard her speak and with the added fact she just woke up from a coma I was surprised at how strong, yet sweet her voice was, she sounded like she had the voice of a true mother, one that could scare you at the worst of times and also encourage you to do great things when you needed it, my eyes began to water as bowed my head, my father wasn't going to tell her, I don't think he could bare it, and neither Apollo or Artemis could, it had to be me, I took a deep breath and turned to her and told her that it had been twenty-one years, she seemed to get emotional as she let go of my dads hand and moved hers closer to my face, her eyes were so much like mine, her voice cracked as she asked,"Son?"
With all the love I had I held onto her as she cried in my arms, letting a few of my own tears fall, my mother then asked me my name,"Well, I was raised in Camp Half-Blood, so the demigods named me Matthew, which is the name most people refer to me as, but you guys wanted to call me Andrios so you can call me whatever you want," Apollo then had to interrupt our conversation to give my mum a quick checkup, during which I spoke with Artemis to calm my nerves, once Apollo was done he left, telling me that my mum was absolutely fine physically. I sat down in a chair again and Artemis sat next to me while my parents spoke for a moment, my mother then asked what had happened while she was gone, so I told her everything that had happened, from my time in camp to this moment, blocking out some moments with Artemis just to not force out our secret.
Once I was done my mother looked up at Artemis and I and said,"You're missing out something very important," I tried to fake confusion while my father actually looked confused,"Artemis, we've always got along well, so please do not take this the wrong way when I ask you," Artemis nodded and held my hand,"Why are you here?" my mums question was rather blunt and it made my dad realise that Artemis was here too and also ask why, I looked at her for a moment and she smiled and held my hand, breathing deeply and closed her eyes for a moment.
"Matthew and I are dating," she said as she held my hand incredibly tight,"We only started yesterday but we've had a kind of will-they/won't-they thing going on for a few years," looked shocked at her, I wasn't upset that she told my parents, not at all, I was thrilled, but for a Maiden Goddess to so openly say that she was in a relationship was a great feat. I looked at my parents and noticed their happy expressions and smiled and wrapped one of my arms around Artemis, and started to talk about some random stuff and told my mum about Artemis and my story, I don't think I've had a better day though.