JACKSON HOUSE
Annabeth was alone at home when the pain started. She was waiting for Piper to come and help her with the nursery for the baby who would come in a month. Percy was at school and as today was Friday, would only come back home from teaching at 6 pm.
Therefore, Annabeth was almost 8 months pregnant and having an absurd amount of pain alone at home.
"Deep breaths, Annabeth, this could be a false alarm". So she sat down and waited a couple minutes, and eventually the pain went away. There, done. Then the doorbell rang and went to open it to her friend Piper. It was about time that she came. Annabeth was getting worried.
Only, that wasn't Piper. There, at the other side of the door, stood Kelly, the empousa. Oh, no, not today. Really? She already sent her to Tartarus two times, and she had to choose today to make her great comeback? The Fates couldn't give Annabeth a break?
"Aw, is it just you, Daughter of Athena? I swear I smelled Poseidon too. I was really hoping that I could get the job done and kill both of you at once." Then her gaze lowered to Annabeth's swollen belly and the monster smiled like she had just been told Tartarus was closed forever.
"Oh, look at that! We have a daughter of Athena and two Legacies! In one package! That's even better than the original plan!"
Annabeth was taken back. Two legacies? What the Hades? She was sure it was only one healthy baby boy she was carrying. That was when the pain started again. Deep breaths, she told herself. Access the situation, alanalyze, plan. Annabeth had her sword with her, as always, but she didn't know if she would be able to kill the empousa in that much pain.
"What face is that, blondie? You didn't notice your belly? Well, let me make it easier for you! Don't even bother with getting worried sweetie. You three are going to be dead soon."
That made Annabeth get out of her stupor. It didn't matter if there was one or two. Nor if she was almost crying from pain. She had survived and done worse. No one, god, goddess or monster, was going to hurt her baby. Or babies. She would deal with that matter later.
"Wow Kelly, bold of you to come after me again. This is going to be what? The third time I will win this?" Piper would be here soon, she told herself. It was going to be fine. Just gain time. And ignore the pain. She could do this.
"Win what? Your place in the Underworld? You are absolutely right. But now you are making me wonder, where are this two precious little babies going to be? I doubt they did something worth of Elysium." Kelly touched her belly and snarled. Her nails got out and suddenly a thin line of blood was dripping from the top of her stomach.
To Hades with 'waiting for Piper'. Annabeth was so angry at everything that she saw red. "Oh you are going to regret this for every single moment of the rest of your sad existence". Anabeth took her sword and attacked. She forgot the pain for the next minutes that she fought the empousa. Call it maternal instincts or whatever, but she went all in for that fight.
Taking a step back, they both went fighting into the apartment and Annabeth got exactly where she wanted to. Really, Kelly seemed to have forgotten about her cap, but Annabeth sure as Hades didn't. She took it from the hook at the door and promptly disappeared.
"Argh! Spawn of Athena. You want to play it that way? You may be invisible but now you are smelling for three!" With an evil laugh she turned right where Annabeth was, making a long, nasty cut on her shoulder.
But Annabeth was not having it. With a last swing of her sword, she impaled Kelly who turned into gold dust. Ha, take that Fates. Don't mess with a pregnant demigod. The only problem now was that after that little show she had to go through ended, she could feel the pain again. And stronger than before, without even counting with the cuts and bruises the monster gave her.
Annabeth took off her Yankees cap and dragged herself to the kitchen. She was about to eat a little of ambrosia to ease the pain, to at least be able to think. She was about to put the godly food into her mouth when she remembered that there was no way to know if it would combust the babies or not. Oh gods. Babies? Was Kelly right? There were twins?
She felt her chest tighten. The pain was too much and she was there all alone. Were the walls closing on her? She couldn't breath. Suddenly, the world became dark and she was falling. Falling and falling. Only this time there wasn't Percy to save her. There was no one. She heard a familiar voice yell "Annabeth!" just as the world went numb.
AT GOODE HIGH
Percy was a little apprehensive today. When he left Annabeth at home to go to work, there was a feeling inside his chest that told him to stay. But then again, he always wanted to stay with Annabeth. Even more now that she was pregnant with his son. The thought made him smile. Who would have imagined that he would survive to have a son? He was supposed to die at sixteen and now here he was, married for 2 years with the woman he dated since he survived his first war. He was so lost in his little world that he hadn't noticed the students come in until the bell rang.
With that he faced his first class of the day and started talking.
"Good morning everyone! Great to see your gorgeous sleepy faces this morning."
He received a low general good morning after that. Okay, he thought. Time to wake them up.
"So, as you probably know, today we are having a test to see how you are all catching up and studying a lot! Please turn off your cellphones and take your pencils out!"
Twenty something pairs of eyes widened at that. "Test? Today? You said it was next week Mr. Jackson!" Hayley, the top student of the class protested. There were shouts of agreement from all his senior class.
"Now you have woken up! Don't worry I was just kidding. So, now that you are all awake let's talk a little, because I am not in the mood to start talking about the Underworld right now." That was another reason for why he would have liked to stay at home today. As the teacher of Mythology and Biology at his old high school, Goode High, he had to talk about the Underworld and that place at least once a year. "So, how was your weekend guys?"
One would think that with his history of being expelled Percy would never step into a school after graduation. He thought so too, if he was being honest. But then he came back to New York and Paul told him that there were these two spots open at Goode, where he still worked. So, Percy used his experience and degree to teach. And he loved it. The students also loved him, because he was, as Annabeth kindly reminded him, practically a teenager himself.
His students had him more as a friend and they always talked like that before class. "Well, I think none of us could really do much, considering that Ms. Reynalds assigned the biggest essay ever on Friday for us to hand in today" Fred, one of his students answered.
"Ha! Sucks for you. She didn't change at all. I had classes with her back in the days too and she pulled this every. single. time. But I had a smart girlfriend to help me." Percy answered and the class laughed. They had met Annabeth once when she brought him his bag, and she helped him teach a class about Athena. He certainly didn't forget it on purpose because he was afraid to talk about his mother-in-law that day. Obviously not.
"Yeah, we forget that you studied here not long ago. How is your wife doing by the way Mr Jackson? When will the baby come?" Another student asked.
Percy was about to answer when a phone rang. "So! Who is being requested today? Come here and entertain us, please!" You see, Percy had this rule that every time a phone rang in the class the lucky student would have to come in front of the class and talk for 2 minutes straight with the phone on speaker. Maybe in any other class this would suck, but the students found it funny. They thought that this was better than losing the phone.
The class shared a look and grinned. The phone wasn't from any one of them. It was Mr. Jackson's phone. "Hmm, sorry to break it to you Mr Jackson, but I think it is yours" Sophie said.
"Yeah Mr. Jackson! No phones allowed in class. Please entertain us." Another student said and they all laughed.
Percy however, began to worry. This phone was just for emergencies, and Piper knew he was working now. But maybe she forgot, so just to make his students laugh, he answered it on speaker.
"Hey Beauty Queen! How are you? You know, I always knew you missed me, but couldn't you wait until the class finished to call me?"
The whole class laughed at that. Their teacher was even more immature than all of them.
"JACKSON! WHERE THE HADES ARE YOU? I've been trying to IM you since we got to the hospital"
There was complete silence. "Hospital? We? What happened, Pipes?"
"Okay so sit down for a second and breathe" Sophie and her classmates watched their teacher's face go palle. "Pipes what happened? Where is Annabeth?" The person on the other line must be very persuasive because when she told him to sit down again, he did it at record speed. "From the sound of it, and because I know your terrible sense of humor, I believe you are on speaker. So please any of you who are in the class right now go take the phone and don't let him run out before a guy looking like a latino elf gets there. AND GO GET MR BLOFIS!"
The students got up and circled him to listen to what was going on. One girl got out to get their english teacher. No one was understanding what was happening, but the look on their teacher's face was scary. "Piper McLean. Talk before I do something I will regret. What. The. Hades. IS. GOING. ON?"
Mc Lean? Sophie thought. Like the actor? Mr. Jackson knew McLean?
"I don't know!" Came from the phone. "I think some of the Dirty Face minions paid a visit to Annabeth today. When I got there, she was passed out with gold dust and nasty cuts. I called Leo here and he came with Festus to get her to the hospital faster. We are here now and she is into surgery."
They didn't know who "Dirty Face" was, but their teacher sure as hell knew. His eyes turned into storms and he looked more broken than anyone they had seen. From what Sophie could understand, Mr Jackson's wife, who they all knew was pregnant, was attacked and almost dying.
"Please tell me this is a big joke Piper. Please tell me they are alive." he whispered.
"They aren't dead Aquaman. Breathe. I think she could handle the you-know-what, and couldn't eat ambrosia because of the baby. There is nothing you can do now, so don't go around making a hurricane. Leo is going to get you at the school. Goode High, right?"
Because of the state of shock he was in, he couldn't answer. So Sophie took the phone of his shaking hands and answered the woman. "Yes, it is. Do you know the address? We have cars too, and a license, if you need us to take him there."
"No, no. I know where it is, and none of you should be around Percy right now. Please tell me his eyes aren't looking like a storm and his face is not doing that concentration face that is scary as Hades. Please."
All the class looked at Mr Jackson again. "Hmm, as much as I would like to, I can't. He looks ready to jump out of the window. And his face is definitely scaring. We think he is having a panic attack" Sophie answered.
"Oh no. This is bad. Just don't go near him, ok? He won't do anything. Wait for Paul, please".
Right then, Mr. Blofis entered the class. He took one look at everything and must have gotten something, because in a second he got the phone and took it out of the speaker.
"Hey Piper. Is it Annabeth? Oh fuck, that explains his face." This shocked the class even more, because no one ever thought they would hear Mr. Blofis swearing. "Ok, we will wait. I will talk to him. And call Sally." He waited. "Yeah of course I can call Frederick." he listened something else and finally said "Okay. Piper, he looks in shock. I will try to snap him out before it becomes a full panic attack."
All the class was watching as their funny and careless teacher's face became somber and scared. Somehow while Paul was on the phone, he managed to fall off the chair and backed into a wall.
"NO! STAY AWAY FROM HER." He was almost crying. Mr. Blofis told them to get water and the same student who went to call him got it and came back running.
"Perce. Calm down. You got out of there. This is not real." when he was about to say something, Mr. Blofis dumped all the water on his head. It seemed to work and he got up in a second.
"Paul! It is Annabeth! I need to go!"
"Hey hey hey" he answered. " Leo is getting here. Sit down"
"My gods this is worse then Tartarus! This is my fault. I knew I should have stayed home. Paul what if she dies? And if we lose Charles?" Charles was the name they decided for their son, honoring Beckendorf. Charles Bob Jackson. Percy didn't give a damn about who was watching. He was panicking. The only reason the flashback didn't go full out was because he was too concentrated on seeing Annabeth.
"Perce look at me. You two have survived worse. This is not your fault at all. There is nothing we can do besides wait and pray."
Survived worse? The class was confused. What the hell had happened with their favorite teacher?
"Oh yeah. Pray. Because those assholes are definitely going to help with something. I bet whatever you want that one of them has something to do with this mess, actually" Even Paul was taken back now. He never saw him so angry. And Paul was there at the Battle of Manhattan.
Percy got up and was about to go out when Leo came running in. "Come on WaterBoy. I will take you there. She is in surgery." With that, they both left faster than what everyone thought was possible.
Paul looked to the class, and all the students looked surprised that their teacher could be both so terrified and terrifying. "Ah, sorry guys let me take a breath."
They watched as Mr. Blofis sat down and counted to 10. Then he looked up and told them to go to his class. No one said a thing, and Paul prepared himself to give Sally an awful phone call.
Percy couldn't see straight. Everything since Piper started talking was a blur. He vaguely remembered Paul dumping water on him, him freaking out and then jumping on Festus. Annabeth was hurt. He couldn't believe he let this happen.
The second they entered the hospital and he saw his mother, he couldn't do it anymore. She hugged him like she did back when he came back from the little exchange program Hera pulled out, and just cried. After a while he sat down, anxious. He couldn't fucking believe it. After everything he had done for the gods, they were not going to take Annabeth from him. If he needed to hike the Empire State Building until 600 floor, he would. He had already gone to the deepest part of hell for her and he would do it again without even thinking twice.
Piper and Leo sat down with him as they cried together. After losing Jason almost 8 years ago, they became even closer. The six of them, plus Nico became practically inseparable. No one would be okay if Annabeth didn't make it out of this.
Suddenly, the door from the hallway that led to the opened. It was in that moment that Percy realised that it wasn't just him, Piper, Leo and his mom. Half of Camp Half Blood, including Chiron, stood up when Annabeth's doctor came in.
"I have news about Annabeth Jackson. Is her husband here?" Percy was shaking. Badly.
"I am Percy Jackson, her husband. Is she okay? Is..is" he swallowed dry. Then the doctor smiled.
"Congratulations to our newest dad! You have two perfect little boys! And the mama is recovering from the surgery. She is under observation because of the fall, but the cuts are taken care of. She went into labor a month early, but with twins it isn't that unusual. If you want you can see the three of them now."
Percy was stuck. Twins? What?
" I..you...ummm. Are you sure we are talking about my wife? Last thing I knew we were only having a son."
"Oh! So surprise then! Yes, I am talking about Annabeth Jackson! Congratulations!"
Percy couldn't believe it. That moment he let out a shout of happiness. Two sons, and Annabeth. All healthy. Gods, she was okay. They were okay. Everything was going to be fine.
All his friends cheered with him and hugged each other. This was a big thing for camp. They were the first half bloods to have greek legacies, and after all they had gone through, it was a light at the end of the tunnel for everyone.
"Oh Gods, yes please! I need to see them" He told the doctor.
"Sure thing. The family can go in now."
All the demigods got up. The doctor took in the scene and said "Just family".
"We are family!" Grover exclaimed. "So, choose five. Then the rest can go in"
"Come on. Mom, Piper, Leo and Grover. They have to meet their grandmother and godparents" Percy followed the doctor and then it sunk in. Oh gods, he was a dad. And he has twins."
"Oh, looks like she woke up. I think you are going to want to take a picture"
When Percy saw the view in front of him, his heart did a loop. His eyes began to water as he watched his wife hold their kids. She was looking tired, but other than that fine. Well, if you didn't count the cut on her forehead. And shoulder.
"Hey guys! There are some little people who want to meet you." Her smile was so bright that he almost couldn't take it all in. Percy got closer to her bed and hugged her, being careful to not hurt his wife or kids. "Are you okay? Oh my gods Annabeth, I was so scared I was going to lose you two. Or, well, you three, as it looks like"
"I am fine Seaweed Brain, but I will tell you later what happened. This is a happy moment, and we don't need to drag monsters into it." She answered.
"True." He agreed. After kissing her forehead he finally took a look at his kids. His two little boys were looking at him, one pair of grey eyes and another of sea green, just like his own. The hairs were both like his too, just changing the colors. The one with Annabeth's eyes had hair as black as midnight and the other one had it blond just like hers. Their face features were really similar to his as a baby and they were so beautiful that he felt like he could stare at them forever. Gods, they hadn't been on earth for more than a hour, and he already loved them as much as he loved Annabeth. In case that is not clear, he loves her a lot.
"Here, hold one. My arms are still hurting a little." When he took the blond one in his arms, he heard a click. Apparently, his mom decided that they had already been given the privacy they needed, because next he knew, the four of them were there ogling the babies.
"Oh, I can't believe it! They are beautiful. Congratulations dears." Sally said. "I am going to pass the news to Paul and your dad, Annabeth. But don't think you are free of me yet!" Then she hugged them both once again, and got out.
"Wow guys. Really? One wasn't enough?" Leo said.
"Ha ha Leo. Really funny." Percy said, without taking his eyes from his son.
"Well, thank you, I try. But honestly, congratulations."
"Bahhh." Grover said "I am gonna cry. They are so cute. You are amazing. Congratulations"
"My inner daughter of Aphrodite is showing guys. My phone already has more pictures of you and them then pictures of me." Piper said with a laugh. "My sisters are going to have a heart attack when they find out there were two of them. And even this you had to make an adventure huh? I am so grateful you are fine Annabeth. When I got to your house and saw you lying there, I had assumed the worst. But you were a badass as always."
Percy tightened his grip on Annabeth then. Saying he was just scared was a misunderstanding.
"Yeah, I am okay now. All taken care of!" She looked at their friends, her husband and then back at her sons. "More than okay actually"
"So! What are their names? I know you guys already had chosen one, refusing my super idea of naming him Leo. But now I think the Fates gave you another chance to fix this mistake. In my opinion, the blond one would fit better with my name. You know how the ladies will fall for him with these eyes. Leo McShizzle would only increase the effect!"
"Leo, I am flattered you are attracted by my eyes, but please shut up." Percy said. Then he looked at Annabeth. "What about that name we were thinking of talking about with them? This guy would be perfect for that."
Annabeth didn't even think much. "I am totally on board" Then she looked at her friends. "What do you think guys? Meet Charles Bob Jackson and Jason Damasen Jackson. In honor of four great heroes we met in our lives"
Now they were all crying. "Okay, I will allow you to trade Leo for that one. He would have loved it guys. All of them would." Leo said. And then completed. "With the condition of the next one being a Leo!"
"Man, calm down. We just had two. Like today. It is going to be a while until the next one. And what is the problem of them being Saggitaryous?"
The five of them burst into laughter. Percy looked around and realised that this was why he did all the things he did. This is why he kept fighting everyday. And he would continue to do it. Until his last breath.