A/N: Seems like y'all enjoyed the Parents chapter, and I definitely had a fun time writing it, so here it is folks! Part 2.

Disclaimer: I own Will's mom's cat. That's about it.

P is for Parents (Part 2)

Nico hated Percy.

He had concluded, after much deliberation, that most of the hardship he was experiencing in his life right now could be reliably traced to Percy Jackson. Technically, he could say it was Apollo's fault for having the oracle that made Zeus kill his mom and bla bla bla, but Nico had learned it was best not to pin these things on the flighty god of light. Besides, without all that, Nico would never have met Will.

No, Percy was the real scourge here. Stupid son of Poseidon, encouraging him to embrace his Underworldliness and have a better relationship with his father, directly resulting in Will meeting Hades and the eventual "That went well, don't you think? Hey, you should meet my mom now!" and the truly dreadful flight to Texas. His attempts to convince Will he was perfectly capable of shadow-traveling despite two trips to the Underworld last week had been futile. Nico promised himself he would demolish Percy in a sparring match the next time he got the chance, and the thought comforted him a little as he braced for the plane to land.

"Gum?" Will offered. "It helped with the pressure in your ears when we took off, didn't it?"

Nico popped the spearmint stick of gum into his mouth, fighting off a blush when Will planted a kiss on his nose. It was difficult to be mad at Will about all this when it was very clearly an important moment in their relationship. Besides, Will had dealt with his own problems during the flight. Nico glanced at the carrier that was wedged under the seat in front of Will, and Ginny's unblinking green eyes stared back as she yowled.

"Oh, hush." Will scolded his mother's cat half-heartedly. "You and I both know this isn't your first rodeo."

"Your mom's picking us up at the airport, right?" Nico attempted to make conversation to ignore how much his stomach was churning as the plane began a rapid descent.

"Yup. Same plan that we discussed: she'll be at the food court, we'll grab a snack to make up for the lunch you threw up earlier, and we'll drive out to her house."

"Again, sorry about that." Nico winced as he recalled how most of his stomach's contents had ended up on Will's right leg instead of the paper bag specifically designed for these incidents.

Will wrapped an arm around Nico comfortingly. "Again, no big deal. I had a change of pants, you felt a lot less nauseous afterwards, and you've successfully hidden all evidence by brushing your teeth and chewing several sticks of gum. Minor hurdle."

"How is it that this trip is already worse than you going to the Underworld and meeting the god of the dead last week?" Nico complained. "We literally haven't even landed yet."

"Look, the Underworld is one thing. This is Texas." The plane touched down on the runway with a jolt. "You'll see!"

Nico wasn't sure what to expect from the city of Austin or from Naomi Solace. Both were more or less mysteries to him. All he really knew about Will's mother was that she had enough musical talent to catch Apollo's interest and a fondness for fiendish cats. Will had assured him she was plenty nice and not judgemental, but that wasn't much information to work with. As they left their seats and Will politely squeezed past an arguing couple blocking the aisle, Nico thought to himself that this son of Apollo certainly didn't get his calm and collected personality from his father. Maybe Naomi Solace was where the good genes came from.

"Got everything?" Will asked as they entered the airport. Ginny whined plaintively from the carrier in response.

Nico nodded, patting the strap of his backpack. "Do you want me to hold Ginny? You've had her for the whole flight."

"Nah, she'll chill out once we get back to Mom's place anyway. Come on, stay with me or you'll get lost in the crowd." Will winked as he used his free hand to intertwine fingers with Nico.

"I think I can manage," Nico protested half-heartedly, but he wasn't going to complain about hand-holding. He followed his boyfriend through the busy Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and took in the sights. Nico hoped Will's mom lived somewhere a little less overwhelming than this.

Having made the trip several times before, Will clearly knew what he was doing as he darted through the crowd. Soon enough, a huge yellow M loomed in front of them, indicating their arrival at the food court.

"I don't see Mom around, but I can grab your food while we wait. Do you want your usual chicken nuggets?" Will teased.

Nico rolled his eyes. "Make fun all you want, chicken nuggets get the job done."

"I'll get you a milkshake too, Sunshine. Hold Ginny while I order?" Will handed off the carrier and stepped into the line of people waiting for their own chicken nuggets. Nico ignored the cat's growling in favor of continuing people-watching. Mortal cities were always so interesting to study, and this one definitely seemed more so than the rest. Nico could see several flannels, Texas t-shirts, and cowboy boots among the crowd. He briefly wondered how far away Leo Valdez's hometown was from here, and if it was very different from Austin.

He focused on a woman dressed in similar Texas apparel as everyone else. She'd tied her long curly brown hair up into a bun, showing off her blue eyes as they flicked around the food court in search of something. Nico couldn't put a finger on why exactly he'd noticed her, but she definitely seemed familiar to him somehow…

She turned and noticed Nico standing by the McDonalds with Ginny, and her face immediately lit up. Nico froze. He knew that smile.

"You must be Nico," she said cheerfully as she hurried over. Before Nico could respond, she wrapped him up in a hug. "I'm Naomi. It's wonderful to meet you. I've seen pictures, of course, but it's not the same as the real thing." She released him and bent down to acknowledge Ginny. "And Ginny, I hope you behaved yourself on the way home, missy." Her lilting accent was its own kind of music, and Nico recalled that she was a singer.

"N-Nice to meet you too, ma'am," he stuttered. Just like her son, Naomi Solace was very warm and welcoming right off the bat. "Um...Will's right over…" He pointed vaguely at the McDonalds, where Will was in the process of ordering food.

"You boys haven't eaten yet? I would've had something ready at home if I knew that," Naomi sighed as she straightened back up. "Will really likes to act all grown-up...although I guess he's getting there, now that he has a boyfriend and everything." She giggled. "Tell me, where are you from?"

"Uh...I was born in Italy." Nico realized he had put absolutely no thought into how much of his backstory he should tell this woman. How much lying was appropriate for the first time meeting a boyfriend's mother?

Luckily, Will finally arrived to save Nico. "Mom, don't interrogate him," he joked as he wrapped an arm around the other boy. "Nico doesn't do so well on planes, let him eat and rest a little first." He handed the McDonalds bag and a strawberry milkshake to his very grateful boyfriend.

"Right, right. Come on, the truck's outside if you're ready to go." Naomi kissed Will on the cheek and took Ginny's carrier from Nico so he could focus on his food. Nico chose to work on the milkshake first, and he half-listened to the mother and son's conversation as the three walked out of the airport. Naomi was tall, taller than her still-growing son, and she had the same self-possessed but not arrogant air. She gestured frequently with her free hand for emphasis as she explained some ongoing feud she was having with her neighbor, and her laugh was distinctly different from Will's even though she smiled the same way. Nico watched her tuck one of Will's stray hairs back into place and was reminded of all the times Will had reached over to smoothen out Nico's hair mid-conversation. He'd stopped complaining about the habit a long time ago since it honestly felt kind of nice, and now he wondered if that gesture was the family's way of showing affection.

Naomi's red truck smelled faintly of something that Nico decided was cinnamon. He and Will settled themselves in the back as Ginny was finally released from her carrier to hang out in the passenger seat.

"It's about an hour drive home boys, so make sure you're comfy back there." She started the car as she spoke, and the engine rumbled to life. "Nico, do you get carsick or anything like that?"

"Mom!"

"What? I just want to make sure he's fine."

"I'm good," Nico replied, turning a little red. "Just planes and boats don't agree with me."

"Alrighty!" Naomi pulled out of the parking spot and smartly navigated her way onto the road. Nico sipped on his milkshake as he peered out the window at the large airport- had they really walked though all that?- and watched it recede into the distance as the truck found the highway.

Will reached over and gently held Nico's free hand, causing the other boy to turn away from the window. "Eat your nuggets before they get cold," Will teased, and Nico contemplated pouring the rest of the shake on his head. Naomi had a nice truck though, so he settled for placing the shake in the cupholder and opening the bag in his lap.

"Do you have a lot of siblings, Nico?" Naomi asked from the front.

"I have a sister," Nico said hesitantly. "She's out in California, so I don't see her all that often."

"She's in the Roman camp, Mom," Will explained.

"Oh! So you don't have any in your cabin at camp?"

"N-No," Nico looked back and forth between Naomi and Will. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you knew that much about camp."

"I know the basics," Naomi laughed. "Apollo wasn't great at secrets, which was probably for the best. It's better to know that your baby daddy is an immortal flighty god than assume he's a deadbeat and waste time suing him for child support. And I made sure Will knows I won't send him to that camp if he hides things from me."

"That, and she'd rather not have me hanging around attracting monsters," Will joked. "I told her Kronos was coming and she said 'Don't die.'"

"Don't make me sound callous, Will. If you're not going to have a normal childhood anyway, the least I can do is put you in a place where you have the community and protection you don't have in Austin," she shrugged.

Nico was a little shocked. Will hadn't mentioned how knowledgeable his mother was about demigod life. Although, he suspected Will had purposefully left him in the dark so he could enjoy his reaction. He shot his boyfriend a dirty look as he reached over to nab a chicken nugget. Will smiled in response, biting into the stolen nugget nonchalantly.

"So, what's your favorite part of camp?"

"My favorite?" Nico felt his brain short-circuit. "I guess I like sword training. And helping Will in the infirmary."

Will winked at the mention of his name, and Nico stuck his tongue out in response.

"You boys remember I have a rearview mirror up here, right?"

Nico felt the blood rush to his cheeks while both Will and his mother laughed.

The rest of the car ride was, thankfully, significantly less embarrassing for Nico. Once he finished his lunch, he allowed himself to close his eyes and lean against the window of the car. Dozing on the plane had been quite a challenge, and he hadn't realized how exhausted he was from the trip.

Will and his mother's voices faded into the background as they continued their conversation, occasionally broken by Will yawning. Soon enough, Nico's nap was disturbed by Will's head against his shoulder. Nico involuntarily turned his body to face Will properly and rested his head on top of the other boy's blond curls. Up in the driver's seat, Naomi smiled to herself before flicking on the radio and humming along to the country music playing.

Will woke up to the familiar jolt of the truck pulling into the driveway of his childhood home. He didn't remember making the decision to take a nap on Nico's shoulder, but he wasn't surprised it had happened. Between Ginny's complaints and Nico's nausea, it had been impossible to rest on the flight from New York, and they'd woken up at an ungodly hour in the first place so they could get from camp to the airport in time for the flight. He winced slightly at the crick in his neck as he sat up straight- the nap was sorely needed, but his boyfriend's shoulder was just a bit too low to be comfortable.

The movement disturbed Nico, who stirred and mumbled something about banana bread. Ginny meowed from the front, clearly excited to be back home.

"Did you boys sleep okay?" His mom asked as she powered down the truck.

"Could be better," Will yawned. Next to him, Nico groaned and stretched as he started to wake up properly.

"Don't worry, y'all can sleep in tomorrow to your heart's content." She kicked open her door and jumped out of the truck. "Head inside, I'll grab your stuff!"

Will waited for Ginny to join his mother outside before carefully reaching over his still sleepy boyfriend to lower the passenger seat so they could crawl out of the back. Nico finally opened his eyes with a whine when Will accidentally jammed an elbow into his thigh.

"Sorry, sweetie," Will kissed Nico's forehead. "But we're home!"

Nico rubbed his thigh with a grimace. "There are easier ways than that to wake me up," he complained half-heartedly, giving Will a small smile.

Will could hear his mom grabbing their bags out of the truck bed, so he nudged Nico to move out of the car. Yawning, Nico obediently stumbled out of the vehicle, quickly followed by his boyfriend.

"You're going to sleep well tonight, huh?" Will's mom commented on Nico's bleary-eyed appearance good-naturedly. "Come on now, let me at least give you the tour and an early dinner before you pass out."

Ginny had already crawled off to her secret entrance into the house, and she was sunbathing in the living room when the three walked in. His mom clucked her tongue at the sight. "Must've left a window open or something...anyway, Will, go ahead and drop these bags upstairs in your room while I give Nico the tour, okay?"

Will did not want to leave a sleepy Nico to be interrogated by Naomi Solace of all people, but he wasn't going to argue with the deceptively suggestive tone she was using. "Sure, Mom." He took both his and Nico's backpacks and all but ran up the stairs. If he was quick, he could save Nico faster.

His childhood bedroom was basically the same as he'd left it last time he visited, if a bit cleaner. Will realized he hadn't thought about Nico seeing this room, and he cursed as he noted how many potentially embarrassing items there were. His music journal was sitting on the nightstand, the mismatched Play-Doh sculptures his mom insisted on displaying dotted the bookshelf, and there were some stuffed animals nestled between his pillows. It had been a long time since Will had done any serious redecorating in this room, probably two or three years since he hadn't spent that much time in his childhood home after first going to camp.

Well, there was no time like the present. Hoping Nico would forgive him for lingering upstairs, he went to work.

His mom must've been giving Nico the extremely condensed tour of the two-story house. All too soon, they turned up outside Will's room and his mom rapped sharply on the door.

"I cleaned it before you got here," she remarked while Nico peered inside curiously. "What are you up to?"

"Oh, just a little rearranging," Will laughed. "I like to think my tastes have changed since seventh grade."

His mom shrugged. "All right. Nico, this is Will's room. I'm sure he can show you the rest of upstairs while I get started on dinner." With that, she left the boyfriends to it and returned downstairs. Will caught a glimpse of the cat zooming around frantically before Nico closed the bedroom door.

"So, this is the origin story of Will Solace?"

"Yeah." Will shrugged. "This was my home before Camp Half-Blood."

"It's nice." Nico's gaze swept over the bed, desk, and bookshelf without comment. Will was just starting to think that maybe he'd successfully hidden all evidence of his pre-teen self until Nico noticed something at the very bottom of Will's bed and giggled. "Is that a stuffed elephant wearing a top hat?"

Dang.

"His name is Mr. Jimmy," Will said defeatedly. Nico let out a proper laugh in response. He knelt and grabbed the toy, examining it carefully before handing it over to Will.

"He's very stylish."

"Oh, the most stylish of my stuffed animals by far," Will remarked. "He was quite the ladies' man until I realized I was overcompensating for being gay."

"How many stuffed animals did you have?"

"A dozen or so." Will gestured at the toy chest under his bed. So much for keeping them hidden.

Nico snorted. "I think I can meet them later."

Will took Nico's hand and gently pulled him over to sit on the bed with him. "I'd prefer you never meet them, but I suppose that's out of the question."

Nico hummed softly and leaned against Will's shoulder. For a few moments, they just enjoyed each other's company, and Will felt himself start to relax again.

"Is your mom always like that?" Nico asked quietly.

"More or less. Why, what did she ask you?"

"Nothing terrible. I think she's going to give us ice cream. She kept asking me if I had a favorite flavor of ice cream."

Will thought about it and realized he wasn't sure he knew the answer to that question. "Do you?"

"I used to really love hazelnut gelato, so I said that. Is hazelnut ice cream a thing?"

"Not super popular, but probably a thing." Will couldn't recall ever trying hazelnut ice cream.

Nico yawned again. "Do you think your mom would be upset if we took another nap before dinner?"

Will shrugged. "Eh, she'll live. I think we're both still pretty tired."

That was that. Both boys spread out on Will's bed. It was a bit cramped, seeing as it was a twin bed meant for one, but they'd had worse sleeping situations as demigods.

"Is it true that your first word was yoyo?" Nico asked softly as he began to doze off again.

Will groaned. He should've predicted his mom would tell that story. "Let's talk about it at dinner."

"Hmm….fine." It didn't take long for Nico to slip off, and Will allowed himself to admire his sleeping boyfriend before passing out himself. He looked so much younger when he was asleep, and Will knew from experience that he was a sleep talker and had a tendency to respond physically to his dreams. That had been a bit of a problem when they first got together and Nico was still bothered by nightmares of Tartarus, but nowadays all it meant was some free entertainment for Will when Nico had a dream argument with a talking giraffe.

Will wrapped an arm around Nico and closed his eyes, smiling when he felt Nico automatically snuggle closer.

A/N: Weird ending? Maybe. This ended up turning into more of an exploration of Will's backstory since there isn't a ton of information about that, and I didn't want to do too much of Naomi interacting with an awkward Nico since we kind of did the same thing with Will and Hades already. I don't write Will's perspective very often, so I hope it worked for the purposes of this chapter. Next update will definitely be the Q one since Nico already knows Apollo.

As always, please leave me a review with any criticisms, compliments, ideas, etc.

~Bobbi