Hello! Sorry for the slightly longer wait for this chapter. Things at school have been nuts this past week and they're probably going to be pretty busy until spring break the week after next. So I'm not sure how much writing I'll have time to do before then, but I will try to have at least one more chapter posted before that happens.

Anyway, this update was super fun to write. Some Percabeth fluff for you! I know I promised demigodish stuff soon, but I don't think you'll be too disappointed that I went with this first instead. I hope you enjoy!


"Why do I need a babysitter?" Logan demanded, standing unhappily by the front door.

"You don't," I replied, slipping one shoe on while handing Carly's to her, "You're not going to be babysat; you're going because your grandparents haven't seen you in a while."

"We could take Nicky and Carly and leave you here alone," Annabeth suggested from the stairs, following our other son down them, "But you'll miss the dinner Grandma's making for you and I haven't been to the store yet this week so there isn't anything for you to eat here."

"No," Logan said quickly, "I want to go. I just don't want to be babysat." At thirteen, he'd been on a weird independence streak lately. We allowed it for most things, as he was a good kid and was still a far cry from the rebellious antics of other thirteen year olds I'd seen.

"Neither do I," Nicky piped up from the bottom step, looking indignant.

"Me neither!" Carly added, not with any real conviction, just following after her brothers.

Annabeth sighed, stepping past Nicky and grabbing her purse and the car keys from the hook by the door, "No one is being babysat," she said, "Grandma and Grandpa want to have you over for dinner because they love you and want to spend time with you. And you always have fun there. And since we'll be in the city, Dad and I are going out for dinner ourselves because we love each other and never get to do that. So everyone needs to stop complaining and get themselves out this door and in the car, please. Come on."

All three knew better than to argue when their mother took on that tone, and they complied easily after that.


"Thank you for doing this," I told my mom, standing in the living room of her and Paul's small apartment.

"Of course, sweetie," she smiled, "You know we don't mind. And it's been a while since you two got any real time alone."

I snorted. "You can say that again."

She smiled knowingly. "This is as much a treat for us as it is for you. Go have fun. Don't you dare rush back."

I smiled. "Okay."

Annabeth walked in then, joining us. She'd been in the kitchen with Paul and the kids. She stopped next to me, smiling at my mom. The sundress she wore fit her flawlessly and she looked amazing. "Ready to go?" she asked me.

"Definitely." My mom smiled wider.

She walked us to the door. It was such a familiar thing. "Have fun, you two," she said, standing in the open doorway as we stepped out into the hallway, "And take your time," she added, "Seriously. It's Friday night. If you're back here before nine I will not let you in."

"Understood," I grinned while Annabeth laughed beside me.

When we got back to the car, she tossed me the keys. "You're driving," she said. I grinned.

I got in behind the wheel but didn't turn the engine on immediately. She looked at me from the passenger seat. "Do you hear that?" I asked quietly.

She narrowed her eyes slightly in confusion, but knew from my tone that there wasn't trouble. "What?"

"Silence," I said.

She smiled. "It's beautiful."

"When was the last time we got to do anything by ourselves?"

She shook her head. "Months ago." She looked at me again, smirking. "Percy, I don't think you realize how excited I am just to have dinner alone."

I grinned. "And we have until at least nine," I said emphatically.

She snorted. "Let's see what time we get out of the restaurant, Seaweed Brain. You may just get lucky."


As teenagers, Annabeth and I had often ate at a small Italian restaurant in the Upper East Side. It was one of those family-owned places, the kind that gets passed down from generation to generation, so I wasn't all that surprised to find it was still open, though it had been years since we last ate there.

We did tonight though, and I was personally glad we did. The food was exceptional, just like I remembered it. It wasn't overly crowded either, which I appreciated and found slightly surprising for a Friday night.

It had been a while since we'd been out like this, just the two of us. It wasn't that we didn't have my parents happily at our beck and call to watch the kids for us. We did, and they were more than willing. We were just so busy, between work for Annabeth and I, and school for the kids, baseball practice for Logan, trips to camp a few times a month for both boys, and the general business of everyday life, date nights had become an unfortunate rarity.

Not that I didn't enjoy my job and love our kids with everything in me, but it was nice to get away alone with Annabeth every once in a while, and even nicer when it entailed more than just an occasional outing to the grocery store.

Conversation was light throughout dinner, but I preferred it that way. Life so often revolved around pressing issues lately with Nicky's issues at school and camp, various stresses at work, and the monster attacks that still sprang up occasionally, always at inconvenient times. Just to name a few. I genuinely enjoyed just talking about nothing with her. She was my wife and yet it was still so rare. It was sad.

Annabeth had been with an architectural firm in the city since shortly before we'd been married, and she loved it. She was a senior partner now and had more say than ever with the projects she got to work on. She had always been fantastic at her work, but now people knew it. It kept her busy, but she thrived under the pressure.

She spoke now about the latest project she'd taken on, a multi-level art gallery that would be built just north of the city, and glowed with excitement as she did. The client adored the traditional style of Greek architecture and wanted his gallery to reflect that. As such, it would include many intricate arches and columns. Annabeth, of course, shared his love for the design and seemed over the moon to have the chance to work on a style that was, according to her, being used less and less nowadays.

"It's going to be beautiful," she said now, smiling the way she did when she'd talked about the details of the latest temple on Olympus after the Titan War when she was Head Architect. It was her architecture smile, and it was so uniquely hers. It always made me smile too. "I mean, it's little more than blueprints at this point, but it'll get there."

"If anyone can do it, you can," I replied.

She smiled. "And ground is being broken for the Pederson Building on Tuesday. Thank gods."

"Is that the client who kept changing his mind about the building plans?"

She nodded. "He kept going back and forth between Georgian and Colonial styles. I drew up six different design plans in as many weeks."

I smirked. "So he has until Tuesday to change it again."

"Oh, he's not changing it again," she said vehemently, "I'm going to be conveniently away from my phone if he does." I laughed.

She smiled, but sighed a moment later as a thought hit her. 'When did we become such boring people?" she inquired, sounding somewhere between surprised and appalled, "This is the first real date we've had in months and we're talking about work." She made a face.

I smiled. "I like being boring people. It makes for a nice change." She smirked. "But if you want," I said, leaning forward, grinning and lowering my voice appropriately, "We can talk about the empousa I ran into on Wednesday."

She groaned but smiled. "Gods, no." Despite her words, she added, shaking her head, "I still can't believe the vendetta they have against you."

"I know. I feel like I kill one every year. You'd think they'd get sick of dying eventually."

Annabeth smiled. "I'm more worried your luck with them will run out eventually."

"Nah," I said with an easy grin, "I'm good at what I do."

"Percy, I'm serious. It's a real possibility. I've seen monsters get the better of you more than once. And we don't have the same luxury they do when it comes to dying."

"I don't know that I would call their situation a luxury."

"You know what I mean," she said, and I knew she was completely serious now, all traces of lightheartedness gone, even with the quiet tones the topic necessitated.

I sighed. "Yeah, I do. But what choice do I have? I either fight and hope for the best or don't fight and die for sure. That's not much of an option."

She made a face. "I know that. Obviously you have to keep killing them. I just worry about it sometimes."

"Why?"

"Because you're not sixteen anymore."

I studied her for a second, debating how to respond next. It still surprised me at times when she acted like this. Tartarus had brought about enough vulnerability for a lifetime, but it wasn't until after years of marriage, when the hubris in her finally diminished in the shadow of her family, that she broached conversations like this one. Conversations centered not around fear of something never meant to be survived, but the idea that she may not always be able capable of handling everything that was.

I decided things had been serious long enough for one date. "Are you calling me old?" I asked quietly, hiding a smirk.

She blinked, and then exhaled in a surprised laugh. "No."

"Good," I grinned, "Because you are older than me."

Now she laughed earnestly. "You had to go there, didn't you?"

"Are you mad?" I asked easily. I already knew the answer.

She tried not to smile, but failed valiantly. "No."

"Then I regret nothing," I grinned. She shook her head, still smiling. Our waiter returned then to take our dessert plates. I asked for the check. When he was gone, I looked back to Annabeth. I reached across the table and took her hand. "I'll fine, alright? I've survived this long. If I can live to see thirty-eight, the rest can't be too difficult, can it?"

"It's still dangerous."

"Sure it is, but compared to when I was a teenager? And you still get attacked enough yourself. Don't think that's not terrifying for me too. But believe me, I wish I wasn't so famous. Maybe the monsters would get bored and move on."

She sighed. "I know, I'm being ridiculous. I just…" She sighed again and squeezed my hand, "It scares me sometimes how much you love all of us. I've seen how stupid is can make you. You know I'm glad you fell in with me, but it would be way worse if you died now. The kids…" She paused. "I don't think I know how to live in a world without you, Percy."

"How long have you felt like this?" I asked, eyeing her, curious and surprised.

She sighed again, shaking her head. "I had a dream the other night. It was nothing, really. But you died protecting us and I haven't been able to get the image out of my head."

I sighed lightly now myself. "I'm sorry, babe. It wasn't real…"

"I know it wasn't real," she half-snapped in reply, sounding more like herself, "It just made me realize how scared I am of the possibility… I'm being stupid."

"You're not being stupid," I told her, "Just a little emotional…" I said the last word slowly, a thought hitting me. It wasn't that Annabeth never got like this, just that the majority of times had been when she was… I narrowed my eyes now, studying her. "You don't have something you want to tell me, do you?"

She just stared at me for a second in confusion before she caught on to what I was saying. "No," she said fervently, releasing my hand and leaning back in her chair, "Gods, no. But thanks, Seaweed Brain, that makes me feel so much better."

I laughed, rising my hands in surrender. "Just making sure," I defended.

The waiter returned then and left us with the check. Annabeth just shook her head, fighting the smile forcing itself onto her face until he was gone again. "I hate you," she said after he left.

I grinned. "No, you don't."

She gave in completely then and smiled. "No, I don't. By some miracle. It's tempting sometimes though."

"Gee, thanks," I answered, taking enough money from my wallet to cover the bill and the tip. I placed it inside the check holder. "Come on," I said, standing up. "Let's get out of here."

She stood herself and we started toward the exit. I glanced down at the watch-shield on my left wrist. "It's not even eight yet," I noticed, stepping with her outside, "We have a lot of time before we're allowed back to get the kids."

"That's okay," she replied, slipping her hand into mine, "I think we can find something to do."

"You're right," I replied, grinning, "We might even be able to catch a movie." Annabeth smirked but said nothing as we continued toward the car.


"We should do that more often," Annabeth said, walking next to me a while later as we climbed the stairs up to my parents' apartment.

"What, ditch the kids and go out? I agree completely." She smiled and nodded.

We climbed up two more steps before she spoke again. "I love you. I think I forget just how much sometimes."

"Oh, thanks. That's reassuring," I said.

"No," she laughed, stopping on the landing, "We're just always going a hundred miles an hour."

"I know," I said, still standing where we'd stopped at the top of the stairs. Taking advantage of this fact, I cupped her face in my hands and kissed her. "I love you too," I added when we pulled apart, "For the record."

She laughed against me. She'd wrapped her arms around my neck during the kiss and had yet to remove them. I was really enjoying the moment, so I opted not to let it end just yet and kissed her again, long and hard.

It was at least a minute before she broke away. "Percy, we're in a stairwell."

"That's okay, there's no one here."

She smirked but was otherwise unfazed. "We're not teenagers anymore."

"That's not the first time you've told me that tonight," I pointed out.

She rolled her eyes, smiling wider, but she did bring her lips quickly to mine one more time before stepping back. "Come on," she said, "We have to go get the kids."

"Well, when you put it that way," I drawled in exaggerated resignation, following her through the door separating the stairwell from the second floor of my parents' apartment building.


My mom answered the door with a smile. "How was dinner?" she asked, stepping back and allowing us inside.

"Great," said Annabeth, "Thanks for taking them."

"Oh, absolutely. Anytime. You know that."

"Thanks, Mom," I said, pecking her cheek. She hummed in acknowledgement.

"How were they?" Annabeth asked.

"Angelic as always. But don't worry, they can't fool me. I know they're terrors at home." I laughed.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Carly's voice called now as she rounded the corner from the living room and ran toward us, "You're back!"

She jumped the last few inches and I caught her. It was a well-practiced move between us. "Hey, Peanut," I said, holding her, "Did you have fun?"

"Yeah! Grandma made cookies and she let us decorate them!"

"Awesome!" I said animatedly, "Did you save me some?"

She laughed and said, "Yes!" in a tone that implied that should have been obvious.

The boys were immersed in a game of checkers in the living room, and insisted we could not leave until one of them won. When Logan did so, Nicky demanded a rematch, and that turned into the best two out of three when he won that one. As a result, we ended up staying for a while.

Carly fell asleep in my lap as the third and final round started up, but I was in no rush to go. The sounds of Annabeth's and my mom's conversation floated out from the kitchen and Paul, on the couch beside Carly and me, watched the boys' game in mild interest.

It was peaceful, and while it had been amazing to get some time alone with my wife tonight, I enjoyed the time there with the rest of my family as well. They were all incredibly important to me.

And it was the weekend. We were in no rush.


Thanks for reading!