***Just under a month until Tower of Nero comes out! So here's a future-fic, before the final book comes along and canon-balls my head-canons, ha.
*Note: There is some very mild innuendo, because they are married, after all. ****
Chapter 1: Out of Town
"Okay, buddy, which pair?" Percy asked, holding out one set of pajamas with dinosaurs on them and a second set with sharks.
His three-year-old son frowned thoughtfully, debating the difficult choice. Then he smiled brightly and said, "Sark!"
"Good choice." Percy put the dinosaur pjs away, then helped his son into the shark pajamas. "Alright, Ryder, let's go say good-night to Mommy. Then it's bedtime."
Annabeth was in her office. She was leaving in the morning for a conference, and she'd spent most of the past two weeks working on the presentation she would be giving while there. To say she was stressed out about it would, Percy knew, be a major understatement. His wife was a nervous wreck. But she looked up and smiled when their son ran into the room, calling out, "Mama!"
She held out her arms and scooped him into her lap when he ran to her. "How was bathtime?"
"Fun! I splashed!" Ryder rattled off a complicated story he'd made up about his toys while he was in the bathtub. Annabeth nodded and listened intently, while Percy watched the scene from the doorway, enjoying the moment. Especially when Annabeth glanced up briefly and they shared a quick smile.
"That sounds fun," she said when the three-year-old finally reached the end of his story. "And did Daddy help you clean up the bathroom?" Their son was notoriously good at splashing water everywhere.
"Yes! He make all the water go back in the tub."
"Bathtime is kind of my specialty," Percy said.
"Everybody has a talent," Annabeth replied.
Percy chuckled. "Something like that. Okay, Ry, tell Mommy good night so she can get back to work."
Ryder stuck out his bottom lip. "No story?"
Annabeth ran her fingers through her son's damp blonde hair. "You know, Daddy tells good stories, too."
"Want Mommy story." He turned his big green eyes up to his mother. "Please?"
Her eyes flicked to her laptop, but she sighed. "One story."
"Yay!" Ryder wriggled out of Annabeth's arms, then ran out of the room.
Percy turned his head to watch his son run down the hallway, making sure he went into his own bedroom. Then he looked back at his wife, who had stood up and was stretching and yawning. "I never thought you'd be a pushover."
"Like you can say no when he looks at you like that. Plus, I'm going to be gone for almost five days." She took Percy's hand. "And I needed a break. So, storytime."
"Makes sense. Got one in mind already?"
"Yeah, I know a great one about guinea pigs and pirates."
"I see how it is."
Annabeth laughed and kissed his cheek. When they reached their son's room, Ryder was staring into his fish tank. The goldfish, which had been a birthday present from his enthusiastic Aunt Estelle, was swimming in a circle, as usual.
"Alright, Ry." Percy scooped his son up. "Tell your fishy good night."
"Night, fishy!" Ryder waved to it, as usual. Then he bounced in Percy's arms and looked around until he spotted Annabeth, already sitting on the bed. "Now story, Mama!"
"Now story," she agreed, holding out her arms, and Percy handed her their son before dropping onto the relatively new "big boy bed" beside her. "So, once upon a time, there was a magical island…"
After Ryder went to sleep, Annabeth went back to her office to fine-tune her presentation. Percy sprawled on the living room couch, drowsily watching a college basketball game. It had been a long day at work. He was glad he'd taken the next two days off to be home with Ryder while Annabeth was out of town, since she normally worked from home a couple of days a week. When the game ended, Percy yawned widely, turned off the TV, and hauled himself off the couch.
He stopped by Annabeth's office on his way down the hall. "Hey, I'm headed to bed. You coming soon?"
Her eyes stayed fixed on her computer screen. "Uh, yeah, there should be. I went to the store yesterday."
Percy rolled his eyes. But after this long together, he was used to it. This was just how she got when she was focused on a major project. "Don't stay up too late."
When Percy woke up, he was aware of two things: it was the middle of the night, and something was off. He blinked blearily at the alarm clock, which said 2:47 a.m. Turning his head to the other side, he realized what felt wrong: Annabeth still wasn't in bed. Percy groaned into his pillow. Then he dragged himself up and padded down the hall to go get her.
On the way, he stopped at his son's room. Ryder was sprawled on his sheets. In the dim glow of the fish tank, Percy could see he'd kicked most of his covers off. So Percy covered him back up, tucked the blankets in more securely, and gave his son a featherlight kiss on the forehead. Then he continued down the hall to where light was pooling on the floor as it spilled from Annabeth's office.
She was still sitting at her desk, nose two inches away from her computer screen. The desk lamp cast a soft glow over the blueprints and sketches covering the walls. Percy leaned against the doorframe. "Hey, Wise Girl."
Keeping her eyes on her screen, she said, "I'm almost done. I'll come to bed at midnight."
Percy raised an eyebrow, then shook his head and stepped into the room. Annabeth didn't look up as he walked over to her desk, but when he rested his hands on her shoulders, she didn't shrug him off, so he knew he was okay. He leaned down to kiss her neck. "Baby, it's almost three a.m."
That got her attention. When she turned to look at him, her stormy eyes were bloodshot. "Seriously?"
"Seriously."
Annabeth cursed. "My flight is at ten! We need to leave in like four hours!"
"I know. And our son will probably be up in about three hours, so…" He squeezed her shoulders. "Come to bed."
"Fine." She sighed and clicked a few icons on her computer, presumably to save her work. "There's nothing else I can do on this stupid presentation anyway. Gods, I'll be glad when it's over." She snapped her laptop shut, then stood up, turning to drape her arms around Percy's neck.
He hugged her, rubbing circles on her back. "You're going to do awesome. That's why they picked you."
She nuzzled his neck. "You're sweet. I think I'll keep you."
He grinned into her tangled hair. "Glad to hear it."
On the way back down the hall, she asked, "Did you check on the baby?"
"Yeah." Percy squeezed her hand. "He kicked all his blankets off again."
Annabeth shook her head. "He is ridiculously squirmy."
"And he was drooling."
"Gee, I wonder where he gets that from."
"No idea."
Percy climbed back under the covers while Annabeth got ready for bed. When she crawled into bed a few minutes later, she immediately curled up against his side. Percy's arm settled easily around her. Comfortably snuggled up with his wife, Percy fell back to sleep.
He woke to the sound of retching. Slivers of light outlined the bathroom door. Frowning, Percy threw back the covers and tapped on the door. "Annabeth? You okay?"
He heard water running in the sink, then Annabeth croaked, "Fine."
"You sure?" The door swung open, revealing Annabeth brushing her teeth. Her face was pale and sweaty. Percy raised an eyebrow. "No offense, but you don't look fine."
His wife shot him a glare that was less fierce than normal as she finished brushing her teeth. "This damn presentation is making me sick to my stomach. I threw up yesterday, too."
Percy leaned against the doorway, watching as Annabeth splashed water on her face. "You can't let it get to you like that. It's going to be fine."
"I know." She gripped the edge of the sink. "I just don't want to mess this up. I'm representing the entire firm and it could potentially lead to some freelance jobs and…" Her voice trailed off as she heaved a sigh. "I'm probably just getting way too worked up about this, aren't I?"
"Maybe." Percy put his arms around her, pulling her into his chest. She relaxed against him. "Especially since you, my love, are Annabeth Chase, official architect of Olympus. I mean, I know you can't tell them that, but it's still true. It's like an honor for them to get to hear your presentation."
Annabeth laughed lightly. "Don't oversell it, Seaweed Brain. But thanks." She tilted her head up to smile at him. "And it's Annabeth Jackson now, thank you very much."
"You're welcome very much." Percy grinned when she smacked his arm and muttered, "Idiot." Some things never change.
"Hi, fishy!" Their son's voice carried down the hall as he greeted his goldfish, the first thing he did every morning.
"There's the alarm," Percy said.
"At least he's cute." Annabeth squeezed his arm. "You want to get that so I can jump in the shower? We need to leave for the airport in about half an hour."
"Yeah, I've got him." He tightened his hands on her waist. "Although I wouldn't mind joining you."
She shot him a wicked little smile that made his spine tingle. "Save that thought for when I come home on Sunday."
Before Percy could respond, Ryder called out cheerfully, "Mama! Daddy! I's awake!"
"Go." Annabeth pushed his chest lightly and shut the bathroom door.
Before he walked away, though, Percy said, "I'm holding you to that, Mrs. Jackson!"
"It's a date!" she called through the door as the shower turned on.
Smirking, Percy headed down the hall to get his son ready for the day.
After a rushed breakfast, Percy loaded Annabeth's suitcase into the back of the car while she strapped Ryder into his carseat. On the drive to the airport, the three-year-old made his toy plane, a gift from Annabeth's dad last Christmas, zoom around the car. Occasionally he stopped imitating plane sounds long enough to pepper his mother with questions about the airplane she was going to be flying in, which she very patiently answered.
"When you going to fly, Daddy?" Ryder asked seriously.
Percy glanced back at him in the rearview mirror. "Daddy doesn't really fly much, buddy. So probably not soon."
He expected a follow-up question, but Ryder just frowned thoughtfully, then asked, "Mommy, is other people on the plane with you?" and the conversation went on from there.
They parked in the parking garage so Percy and Ryder could actually walk Annabeth into the airport, since the questions about the plane had morphed into questions about exactly how long Mommy would be gone, which had resulted in a trembling bottom lip and reassurances that Mommy would definitely be back, and in the meantime, he got to hang out with Daddy, which would be lots of fun. Still, he clung to Annabeth's neck when she carried him into the airport, a very uncertain look on his face as he studied the crowds of people.
"Alright, buddy," Percy said when they reached the terminal and stopped a little ways outside security. "This is as far as you and I can go."
Ryder tightened his arms around Annabeth's neck. "How come?"
"Because you have to have a plane ticket to go through security," Percy explained as Annabeth cuddled her son. "So only Mommy gets to go."
"But I'll be home in four days," she assured him. "And you can tell me stories about all the fun things you and Daddy are going to do."
Lip trembling, Ryder said, "But I no want you to go."
"I'm sorry, baby, but I have to go. But I love you so, so much." Annabeth kissed his forehead, his chubby cheeks, and the tip of his nose, which actually drew a grudging smile from him. "And guess what?"
"What?"
"I'm going to bring you back a special surprise present."
He perked up at that. "Present?"
"Yep. But you have to be good and help Daddy, okay?"
After considering that briefly, Ryder nodded and said, "Okay."
"Awesome. Alright, I really have to go. I love you." She kissed Ryder again, then passed him to Percy, which took a little extra effort, since he didn't immediately want to let go of her neck.
"Have a great trip," Percy said once his son was settled on his hip. He held out his other arm to Annabeth and she stepped into his embrace, briefly burying her face in his chest. He hugged her tight. "Your presentation is going to be amazing."
"I hope so." She kissed him, lingering for a few moments. "Take care of our little guy."
"Of course. I've got this."
"I know you do." She smiled, then leaned over to kiss their son's cheek again.
"Call when you get there." Percy kissed her again. "I love you."
"I love you, too. See you in a few days."
Percy waited until she was out of sight, since Ryder didn't stop waving at his mom until she gave him a final wave and disappeared down an escalator. When he saw his son's lip start to tremble again, Percy bounced him gently and said, "Hey, how about we stop at the park on our way home?"
Ryder perked up at the suggestion, so Percy carried him back out of the terminal to the car, though he himself threw one last, possibly wistful, look over his shoulder at the spot where his wife had disappeared.
The rest of the day was pretty good. The weather was beautiful, and they spent several hours at the park. They got fast food burgers for lunch, and Percy might have let his son get a kids' meal with the toy, which was a special treat. Shortly after they got home, Annabeth called to say she'd landed safely in Miami, Florida, and was already checked into her hotel. Ryder spent several minutes on the phone filling her in on the park and his new plastic toy. Then, Percy and his son spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out at home. And, almost as reliably as clockwork, every hour, Ryder asked how much longer until Mommy came home. By evening, Percy exhaled heavily, thinking it might be a long few days.
They had hot dogs and macaroni and cheese for dinner (because why not?), then watched Finding Nemo for what was roughly the forty-seventh time. Percy could quote the scenes with the turtles word for word. But he was also pretty happy that his son liked sea creatures so much.
When the movie ended, Ryder sprang up off the couch and announced, "Bathtime!"
"Yeah, little guy, it's bathtime." Percy had heard of other kids who hated taking a bath. When Estelle was two, she'd screamed every time someone tried to put her in the water. Luckily, Ryder had no such issues. Bathtime was his favorite. Percy was pretty happy about that, too. It reminded him of the first time he'd taken his son to the beach. Ryder had only been a few months old, but he'd squealed happily, kicking his tiny feet in the water, and Percy had felt like something settled into place in his chest. As his now three-year-old son beamed at him, tugging at his hand, Percy had one of those moments where it almost overwhelmed him, just how much he loved his child. Sometimes he couldn't even believe that this was his life now. But it was. And the home and family he and Annabeth had built together made everything they'd gone through to get here worth it.
So Percy let his son pull him off the couch and march him down the hallway. And when Ryder asked him to "speak whale like Dory," Percy did his best. Because there had been a time when he would have given almost anything to be here. And he tried his best to never take what he had for granted.
***Thanks for reading! There will be three chapters total to this story. Chapter Two will be up next week.
*A quick note on Ryder's name: my head-canon is that at some point, while discussing baby names, Percy and Annabeth looked at each other and agreed absolutely no Greek-myth related names for their kids. And Ryder sounded kind of unique and cool, in the same way the names Annabeth and Percy/Perseus are unique and cool.****