Disclaimer: All rights to Rick Riordan. I own nothing, but the plot.

Themes of self-harm, anxiety, and depression are expressed within this story. TRIGGER WARNING! Please do NOT read if these themes upset you. TRIGGER WARNING!

Criticism is appreciated, but please no hate. Please review and leave me suggestions! Enjoy!

Percy's POV

He was doing homework on the counter; his mother baking cookies and a smoothie. He looked over at her. She looked so happy. Percy thought back to when he first returned home after the war with Gaea.

"Are you sure you are ready for this?" Annabeth had asked before he had left Camp.

"Annabeth, she thinks I'm dead or worse. I have to go see her."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Annabeth asked. Percy didn't really want to leave her behind. After being separated for as long as they were, leaving each other's side was incredibly challenging.

"I have to do this alone. I have to go see her."

Standing at the door now, he wasn't sure he was ready. He took a deep breath. He listened to the voices behind the door. Paul and his mom were talking, the news in the background. There was also the clinking of plates. His mother was cooking. He raised his hand to knock on the door, but it froze. He hadn't seen his mother in months. And he had changed so much in those months. He had gone through memory loss, went through Tartarus, almost died a hundred times, and almost destroyed the world because of a nosebleed. He didn't know how his mother would react to seeing him. Would she be pleased?

He knocked on the door. The voices stopped briefly before Percy heard someone heading towards the door. The door opened. Percy found himself looking at Paul.

"Oh my god, it's you." Paul looked shocked.

"Hey Paul," Percy put his hand on his neck, feeling awkward.

Paul was about to say something else but was interrupted by Sally. "What's going on, Paul? Who is it?"

Paul moved out of the way, opening the door a little wider. Sally looked past him, and her eyes locked on Percy. Her eyes widened and she dropped the glass pan of lasagna that she was holding. Percy watched it fall in slow motion. Her hands moved up to her mouth. The pan shattered against the floor. Silence followed.

"Percy?" She whispered quietly.

"It's me, mom."

Another frozen moment and then Percy and Sally both rushed towards each other at the same time. Percy grabbed onto his mother tightly and she squeezed him even harder back.

"Thank the gods, thank Poseidon, oh my gods you are here," Sally whispered under her breath.

Percy felt his shirt become wet with his mother's tears. He buried his face into his mother's shoulder, breathing in her scent. It brought the feeling of safety. Of home. He felt his eyes tear up.

"I'm here mom, I'm home." He whispered back.

They stayed locked in that embrace for a few more minutes before Sally finally broke it off. She pulled away quickly and grabbed Percy by the upper arms.

"Where the hell have you been, Perseus?' She yelled. "I was worried sick! Annabeth said you had gone missing, and then she dropped off the grid too. I was trying to contact her and you and tried to go to Camp… nothing for eight months! Where the hell were you?"

Percy felt a lump settle in his throat. He gulped as he tried to speak.

"It's—" his voice cracked. "It's a long story."

Flashes of Tartarus started racing through his mind. He felt himself tense up as his mother continued her yelling.

"Well, you better start explaining! You do not get to disappear for almost eight months with no explanation—"

"Sally," Paul interjected, cutting her off, noticing Percy's distress. "Percy, are you alright?"

"I—" his voice cracked again before he looked at the floor, trying to hide the tears that threatened his eyes.

His mom, as her anger and fear subsided, noticed his state. "Percy? Baby, are you okay?"

She put her hand on his shoulder. That broke him. He raised his head back up, tears flowing fluidity from his eyes. He shook his head.

"No, mom. I am not okay." Sally looked pained as she wrapped her arms around him again. Percy latched on, sobs working their way to his throat. This was the first time he had broken down since Tartarus

"Oh Perce, I'm so sorry for yelling. I was just worried."

Percy tried to reassure her that that was not why he was crying, but the words wouldn't come out. Only tears. And they wouldn't stop. He had been out of Tartarus for about a month now. Why was he just now breaking down? He had had conversations with Annabeth about Tartarus and comforted her as she cried, remembering the loss of their friends and the challenges they had gone through. But Percy had distanced himself from what he had been feeling. He talked about it and started to open up to Nico and Jason. He hadn't needed to discuss what had happened with Grover, who visited Camp, knowing Percy returned because of Juniper, because of their shared empathy link. He had looked knowingly at Percy and simply said, "I know" when he opened his mouth to say something. All talk, not feelings was what the problem was. Now, all the feelings were rearing their ugly heads.

He finally calmed down enough to get some words out. "It's okay." He pulled away from the embrace. He wiped away his tears. "The important thing is that I am home."

Sally smiled, but Percy could perceive the pain behind the smile. "Yes, you are home."

Percy looked away from the look his mother was giving him. He gained eye contact with Paul who was watching the events quietly. Percy moved from where he was standing with his hand outstretched.

"Paul."

Paul pulled Percy into a hug. "It's really good to see you again, Percy."

"You too, Paul."

"Perce, honey…" Sally said tentatively. Percy looked around at his mother. Her eyes were glued onto the ground. "Your foot is bleeding."

Percy looked down. There was a glass shard that cut through his flip-flop into his foot, from the glass pan his mother had dropped.

"I didn't even notice." He admitted.

"Let's get this glass off the floor before someone else hurts themselves. Percy, you should go to the bathroom and start getting that cleaned up." Paul suggested.

Percy nodded numbly, not really feeling the pain yet. He was in shock from seeing his mother and the rush of emotions had numbed him to the pain. He started the walk to the bathroom. He ducked into the hallway, stopping to listen to the conversation he assumed his mom and Paul were about to have."

"Paul, he's home… for months, I've been begging Poseidon, and he's back." Sally said quietly, muffled by Paul's shirt which Percy, peeking around the corner, saw her bury her face into.

"I know, darling, I know."

"But did you see his face? His eyes? Something terrible has happened to him. He looks shattered. And he didn't even feel the glass pierce his skin. Something is very wrong." Sally lamented.

"I noticed it as well. We need to be careful with him. Have to let him open up to us first. We don't want him to get freaked out by all the questions." Percy vaguely remembered his mom telling him about how Paul had some sort of background in psychology.

"Yes, I want to know what happened, but you are right. We cannot press him for information. Or say anything that would…. Oh my gods, Paul, how are we going to tell him?" Sally gasped.

"We shouldn't tell him yet; he just got back. This news would really shake him up. Let's wait a while before telling him." Percy was incredulous. Tell me what?

He heard Paul move to the kitchen to get the broom, so he moved from his spot to get to the bathroom. His shock had faded, and he now felt the pain of his foot. He breathed in a sharp pain of breath as he closed the door. The pain was incredible. He was sent back to Tartarus. He shook his head from the thoughts and opened the cabinet, hands shaking as he searched for bandages. His hand spasmed and he knocked some pill bottles off the shelf. One hit the counter and the contents spilled into the sink.

"Shit," he muttered under his breath, moving to clean up the mess. He started replacing the pills in the bottle. He heard footsteps as his mom knocked on the door.

"Perce, is everything okay?" She asked. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah, I'm fine—" she opened the door, looking at the mess Percy had created. Percy looked up quickly, looking like a kid who had gotten in trouble for breaking a lamp. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay—" her eyes widened as she noticed the bottle he was holding.

"I was just- the pills fell out, so I was putting them back in the bottle—" Percy explained, feeling embarrassed as he looked at the pill bottle. The label said Prenatal vitamins. "Wait—"

All the pieces fell into place. The secret she and Paul were hiding. Paul's excessive concern for her stepping on glass. Prenatal vitamins. He looked back up at his mother, who had an ashamed look on her face. He held up the bottle.

"Are you pregnant?"

"I can explain—" His mom started.

"So, you are pregnant?" Percy asked.

"Yes, but we weren't… I wasn't trying to replace—" Percy held up his hand. His mom stopped.

He moved forward, wrapping his arms around his mother. "I'm so happy for you, mom."

Sally returned the hug. "What? Oh, really?"

Percy pulled away again. "Of course I am! Why wouldn't I be? I am going to be a big brother!" He felt true happiness flood into his system. "I am so happy for you!"

His mom smiled. "So are we! But, I'm even happier that you are home and safe and in one piece."

One piece is debatable he thought, but all he said was "Me too."

Paul appeared in the doorway. "Everything alright?"

Percy smiled and stepped forward again to give Paul another handshake to congratulate him, but pain ripped through his foot. He stumbled forward and Paul steadied him.

"Let's get you off that foot, huh?" Paul suggested.

"Yeah," Percy hissed through the pain.

His mom and Paul lowered him onto the toilet so he could sit. His mother rummaged through the drawer and pulled out bandages. She knelt before him. She carefully extracted the piece of glass, as Percy cursed profusely. She wrapped his foot.

"Do you have any ambrosia?"

Percy shook his head. "No, I left it at camp."

"Oh," his mom's voice was tense. "So, you've been at camp. For how long?"

Guilt stabbed through Percy. He had been at camp for about a month, being unable to face his mother. He just couldn't bring himself to face her in the state he had been in. "Not too long."

"Didn't think to call? Or visit sooner?"

"Sally…" Paul warned.

"It's okay, she can be angry with me. I tried to pick up the phone, but I put it back down so many times. I- I just couldn't face you yet." Percy admitted.

"Face me? What do you mean? Did you feel like you couldn't come to me?" She asked, hurt evident in her eyes.

"It's not that simple mom…" Percy excused.

"Then simplify it for me, Perce." She said sternly. "Or would I not understand because I am a mere mortal?"

"I went through hell." He confessed.

"Like literally or metaphorically?"

"Both," Percy joked weakly.

"But you've handled the Underworld before. Didn't your friend Nico take you there to make you invincible." She said. She looked at his foot. "Aren't you supposed to be invincible?"

"Not the Underworld, mom. Something worse." He felt the lump in his throat again. "Something much worse."

A plate being placed before him disturbed him from his thoughts.

"Cookies are ready!" His mother said cheerfully. Percy grinned, noticing the cookies were blue.

"Thank you, mom." Percy said.

She smiled and started cleaning the kitchen, putting her hand protectively over her swelling stomach. Percy looked at her. He was happy that she was happy. That first visit had been a turbulent one. He had tried to explain Tartarus, without going into too much detail, one because it was painful, two because he didn't want to terrify his mother, and three because she wouldn't understand unless she had been there.

She had not taken the news very well, freaking out. She made him stay at home for a week, before letting him return to camp, unwilling to let him out of her sight. The following weeks, whenever he returned home, she would look at him with expressions of concerns and sorrow. She noticed the pain that Percy was holding inside of him and it really affected her. So, Percy got better at controlling his emotions and hiding his feelings from his mother. But it was hard to hide the screaming from nightmares from Paul and his mom. He had consulted with Chiron about controlling dreams as well as Clovis, who had both given him tips. He was getting better at controlling nightmares and his night screams. He had eventually reenrolled in school, to restore some sense of order to his and his mom's life. Things were slowly going back to normal. The past couple of days, Sally Jackson had finally started to become her old self again.

"What do you have to get accomplished today?" She asked.

Percy opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted by a knock on the door. He looked questioningly at his mother. "Are you expecting someone?"

She shook her head. "No, Annabeth?"

"No, she's back in Boston with her dad." Percy said.

"Again?" She asked as Percy got up from the counter.

"Yeah, had some unfinished business with her family." He said as he walked to the door.

He opened it, revealing a short girl and a lanky teenager. Short girls and lanky teenagers didn't just show up to his door. This was a god.

"It is I, Apollo!" The teenager informed.

Just when my life started to get normal again, he thought Apollo shows up on my door.