Percy POV

"But since I'm in fourth grade now, we get bigger chairs in our classroom. And I get to check out more books from the library. Oh! And now some of my friends are liking boys," Estelle scrunched her face. "Jessica says Carson likes me, but I think Carson actually likes her because he spends all his time with her. And I don't have time for boys right now."

Annabeth's hand was over her face, trying to suppress her laugh. Her grey eyes met mine with a little twinkle in them.

My mom sighed and set down the dishes she had been washing. "Estelle, honey, give Annabeth some space."

Estelle let out a tiny scowl. Gods, it was hard to believe my little sister was 9 now, and she was getting a personality of her own. I had tried to keep up with her while Annabeth was in the hospital, and I hadn't done the best job. Still, now Annabeth had been recovered for a month and this was our first time visiting my family again. Estelle had wanted to talk to her nonstop. To catch her up in what happened these last six months.

"Sally, really, it's fine," she smiled back at Estelle. "I missed you guys."

We finished the dishes and I went over to my girlfriend and sister. I plucked my sister off the couch and she let out a loud squeal. "Percy!" she yelled, but she couldn't stop laughing. With Estelle over my shoulder, I leaned in and gave Annabeth a quick kiss.

"Eww!" Estelle yelled again. "Did you two just kiss?"

"Maybe," I smirked and plopped Estelle down on the couch before giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Is it gross when I kiss you?"

"No, because you're my brother. You kiss Annabeth because you looooove her," Estelle mocked.

Annabeth blushed at this. It was so nice to see color in her face. To see emotion. To see life. Those five months were hell and I'm glad they are finished.

I smiled. "I do loooove her," I mocked back and swept Annabeth up for another kiss.

My girlfriend was the one to squeal now. "Perseus Jackson," she laughed as I kiss her lips, cheeks, and peppered her scarlet red face with more.

"Estelle, I think it's time for bed," Paul walked out from the kitchen and held his hand out to his daughter but he couldn't help his smile that was starting to form on his face.

"Dad," she groaned. "I haven't seen Annabeth for months! And barely any of Percy when she was in the hospital." A pang of guilt hit me in my chest.

"How about we have you over for dinner next week?" Annabeth smiled at my sister. "And maybe you can stay the night for a sleepover? I've missed you too Estelle and we need to catch up. That is, if it's okay with your parents."

Sally and Paul exchanged glances as Estelle gave them a puppy dog pout. It was impossible to resist. My mom sighed. "Only if you both are okay with it," she said looking at me.

I shrugged. "It'd be great to have her over. You guys can have a date night."

"Oh, who said you were invited?" Annabeth tilted her head and let out a smirk. Estelle giggled. "But I'm sure we can squeeze you in."

"Funny," I said.

"We'll plan it soon, but 'Stelle really needs to get to bed," my mom held out her hand and Estelle slowly followed, probably because of the promise of the sleepover next week.

"Bye Percy and Annabeth," Estelle peeked behind her. "I love you."

Annabeth tensed next to me but then relaxed. "We love you too."

We. Gods. We. It wasn't just her. We were a team. It was the two of us against the world again. Not just me. Us.

Paul stayed in the living room with us and gave us a pointed look. "I think you two need to get to bed too," but the way he said it, the accusation with it.

I swear, Annabeth's face got redder and mine probably matched it too. I mean, it was no secret that we had been without each other for a while. I could hardly keep my hands off of her, not that either of us were complaining. But the fact that my stepfather was bringing it up, that was something else.

"Paul!" my mom chastised coming out from Estelle's room. She crossed her arms. "They're young and in love. Let them have it."

"It's not like what they're doing is a secret," Paul muttered, and Annabeth hid her head in her hands.

"Gods," she sighed.

"Hey," my mom threw her hands up in the air. "I want grandbabies. I would prefer the wedding first, but I can be modern."

"Mom," I groaned. "Can we not talk about this?"

Paul and Sally both laughed. "We're just joking." My mom walked over and gave each of us a hug as we stood up to leave. "Thanks for coming to dinner."

"Of course," Annabeth smiled at my mom.

"And, were you serious about taking Estelle for the night?" my mom eyed my girlfriend.

Annabeth nodded. "Estelle is practically like my sister. I've missed you all."

My mom squeezed her into another hug. "Come back soon," she said.

Annabeth smiled as I helped her into her jacket. As we walked out, we walked in a comfortable silence. I had my hand rest against her back, again, I couldn't keep my hands off of her. I wanted to make sure she was there with me. In that moment.

After we got home and were lying in bed, Annabeth broke the silence.

"Percy," her voice was low, a pained whisper.

My heart skipped a beat. She sounded as if she was in pain. I quickly shifted so I was on my side facing her. Her eyes were staring up at the ceiling, a single tear flowing down her cheek.

I cupped her face and turned it towards me. "What?" I was holding my breath.

With my hand still on her cheek, she pressed her hand into my bare chest. I was still holding my breath. "I love you."

I let my breath fall out but then my brow furrowed. She still sounded like she was in pain. I pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I love you too." I brushed her tear away. "Wise girl, are you okay?"

"Perseus," I stiffened. She never called me that. "You don't know. I love you." Her voice softened. "My heart is yours. I'm yours. I need you," another tear slipped. "I need you to breath. I need you to live."

"Love," I sat up on my side more. "Where is this coming from?"

"We're together," she said, answering it all. "Just, being with your family." Her lips twitched. "They're my family. You're my family. You're my everything."

"Annabeth," now it was my turn for my voice to be pained. "You, I," I shut my eyes. I wanted to tell her the same. That I couldn't live without her. I had to for five months and I couldn't be without her for long, even if it was to eat. I needed her near me.

"I thought you should know," she said. "I know you. You show me your love. Hades, you showed me your love by not leaving my side for five months. I just wanted you to know. I needed you to tell you."

"I know," I held her head in my hands. "I know." Gods, I needed to marry this girl.

The next morning, I woke up and couldn't stop staring at my girlfriend. Her curly blonde princess hair falling around her pillow, in our bed. Our white comforter wrapped around her frame. She hogged the blankets but that was a compromise I was willing to make.

"Percy," Annabeth groaned out, not opening her eyes. "You're staring."

"Can I not look at my beautiful girlfriend?" I protested.

"I look terrible," she said.

"I disagree," I kissed her forehead and her stormy grey eyes flew open.

She flipped onto her back. "What time is it?"

I glanced at the clock. "9:30."

"Di immortals," Annabeth ripped the blanket off of her and hurried to the bathroom.

I frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Seaweed brain," Annabeth turned the shower on. "We're meeting Emilo today, remember?" Oh, right! Calypso and Leo's baby boy. "And we're running late," she called out.

A light gleaned in my eyes. "So, does that mean we should shower together?"

"Percy!" Annabeth gasped as I ran to the bathroom and joined her. I kissed her neck and things progressed.

Annabeth fussed with her hair again. I grabbed her hand. "Annabeth, you look great."

She scowled, but it was a cute scowl. "I look like I just got screwed." She frowned as she checked her watch, "and we're almost an hour late."

I kissed her cheek as she rang the doorbell. "They won't be able to tell."

A moment later, Leo answered the door. He had a plain red t-shirt on that was stained with baby spit-up. Yet, he had a crazy smile on his face. Maybe crazy from baby happiness. Maybe crazy from lack of sleep. Both were viable options.

"Hey guys," Leo smiled and gestured for us to come in.

"Sorry, we were late," Annabeth began. "The alarm didn't go off and," Leo just laughed and cut her off.

"And you were screwing?" Leo eyed back and forth between us.

Annabeth's face went red but then she quickly hit my arm. I feigned pain. "Hey!"

"I told you they would notice," Annabeth mumbled.

Leo smirked. "Hey, no shame. I mean, I have a kid, I know what goes on." Leo glanced at the living room. "Speaking of which," he smiled even wider. "Want to meet him?"

I couldn't say anything, only nod. Leo led us into the living room where Calypso sat cradling a small bundle. A small moving bundle. Their baby boy was kicking out of his yellow blanket with his fat little feet. As we approached, his arms stretched out as if he just woke up from a long nap.

"Leo, Calypso," Annabeth's voice caught in her throat. The pain, the love in her voice was similar to the night before. Leo, Calypso, and now Emilo were our family too.

Calypso shifted the baby boy in her arms. "Do you want to hold him?"

Wordlessly, I walked over and sat down next to Calypso and she shifted her so to my arms. The couch sank as Annabeth sat behind me; her hand rested on my shoulder in awe as me.

Little Emilo opened his eyes right as he was placed in my arms. He needed to see this new person holding him. His eyes were a deep brown like his father's, but his hair had a distinct blondeness to it as his mother's. He gurgled and smirked, the same smile as Leo's.

"He's something, isn't he?" Leo sat down next to his wife.

"He is," I rocked him in my arms as emotion built up in my throat.

Annabeth reached her hand around me and Emilo grasped her finger. The way his hand moved, the life inside of him. Gods, I choked up. I managed out, "Want to hold him?"

"Yeah," Annabeth reached out and I placed the baby in her arms.

She pulled him into her body. The way she was holding him, she was a natural. The last time I had seen her hold a baby was my sister when she was first born. I had pictured possibly us having kids someday, but that had been so far into the future then. Now, it could be closer than we could think.

The last time I had held a baby; he had been dead. I had held my dead baby in my arms. My baby boy, Jayce. He would have been a little older than Emilo. Maybe they would have been friends.

Emotion boiled in me and I needed to get away from this perfect baby boy. I stood up too quickly and all eyes flew to me. "I'm sorry, I need, I," then I turned on my heels. The front door was too far away, I needed air. I opened the door to the balcony and shut it swiftly behind me.

I couldn't breath as tears began to come to my eyes. I curled into a ball and huddled on the ground. Jayce. Gods. I hadn't thought of him in so long which made me feel terrible. Annabeth had been my sole focus the last couple of months.

Seeing Emilo, memories came rushing in. Maybe not quite memories, more could have beens. I could have had the baby. I could have had the sleepless nights, but the incredible baby happiness that came with them too.

"Percy?" Annabeth slipped out of the apartment and joined me on the balcony. I lifted my face out of my knees. "Percy," her voice grew sad as she sat down next to me and wiped tears off my face. I hadn't even known I'd been crying.

"I miss him," I let out a sob and Annabeth's face fell, understanding. "Jayce. Seeing Emilo. I want that. I should have that."

Annabeth pulled me into her arms, and I rested my head on her lap. She ran her hands through my slightly too long black hair. She broke the silence, "It won't take away from Jayce but," she sighed. "We'll have that someday." She began wistfully. "I mean, if you want. And not right now. Like your mom said, marriage first. I mean, if you want to get married," I grasped her hand and brought it to my lips.

"You're rambling," I let out a sad laugh.

She sighed. "I love you."

I smiled. "You've been saying that a lot lately." I paused. "Do Leo and Calypso hate me?"

She shook her head. "They understood immediately. That's why they thought you didn't want to see him in the first place."

"It's not, it wasn't," I tried to say. "You were in the hospital. I couldn't tear myself away. I," she pressed her lips to me.

"I know, Percy. They know." Silence.

"Is it terrible I want to go and hold him again, even after running away? Even after thinking about Jayce?" I asked.

"Percy, gods, no," she kissed my forehead. "Do you want to go back in?"

"In a minute," I said.

So, before I held him again, we stayed outside. Annabeth ran her hands through my hair. Gods, I needed to get an engagement ring. I needed I plan. I needed to marry this woman.

This is a little short, but I still hoped you enjoyed. With everything going on in the world, I'm trying to write more in my free time. This story is something I'm proud of and am hoping to add to in the coming weeks. I already have a few ideas for the next couple of chapters. Please, read and review! Let me know what you think and what you like or don't like, either through reviews or direct messages. Hearing from you is always very encouraging. Thank you so much again for taking the time and reading. I value you all!