Hello!
I am sorry again for the wait. I really struggled with writers block and lack of inspiration for this update. I'm still not really sure about it but there's some important stuff in here that leads into the next few chapters which will (I promise) be more interesting!
In the meantime, please enjoy with fun little filler chapter.
"Do you have any plans for the summer, Jasmine?" Annabeth asked from her spot beside me in the passenger seat, glancing back at the dark-haired teenager seated beside Logan. The two had spent the majority of the car ride so far with their hands awkwardly on the edges of their laps, pinkies just shy of touching, and, I won't lie, I'd been sneaking glances back at them every few minutes to see if and when either of them would gather the nerve to grab the other's hand. It was entertaining, if nothing else.
At the sound of her name, Jasmine glanced up and pulled her hand back slightly. "Yeah," she answered, "I'm actually going to Georgia with my mom. She has family outside Atlanta and my brother is down there for school, so we usually spend about a month there with them."
"Oh, cool," Annabeth answered, carrying on the conversation, "Where does your brother go?"
"Georgia Tech," she responded, "He's a sophomore there."
"Nice," she said.
Jasmine's joining us today was kind of a last minute thing. It was Saturday, the second to last before the end of the school year, and one for which we hadn't had any particularly special plans. We had errands to run, stopping to look at a house about forty minutes from our own at the behest of Annabeth's parents, and then picking up some groceries on the way back. The kids had requested getting ice cream and we'd agreed to do so afterward, so all three had come. Shortly before we left, Logan had walked into the room, monster-proof cell phone in hand, and asked if we'd let Jasmine tag along too. Frankly, I didn't see the thrill of running errands with us, but the two had gotten together several times now over the past few weeks and were looking at an upcoming summer-long separation, so I didn't see the harm in allowing it.
We'd officially met Jasmine about two weeks ago, when she'd come over after school one day to study with Logan for their upcoming biology exam. Judging from my own experience 'studying' with Annabeth in high school, I hadn't been sure how much progress they'd actually make, but they sat together in the dining room for two hours diligently reviewing nomenclature and mitosis. I'd been caught somewhere between surprise and veneration that they'd managed so well before reminding myself that their relationship, thus far, was far less serious than mine and Annabeth's, out of necessity, had been even then. She'd stayed for dinner that night and we had the opportunity to get to know her a bit.
As Logan had mentioned on more than one occasion, Jasmine was a pretty girl. She had pale green eyes, olive skin, and thick dark hair that she seemed fond of wearing in a plait down her back. She was shy but respectful, and over dinner we learned that she lived with her mom a few miles from us and had a brother a few years older than her. According to Logan, she was a good singer, but she grew nervous when he mentioned this, as if worried we'd ask her to perform, and apparently not comfortable enough yet to press her, he'd let it drop quickly.
I didn't know much about her beyond that or how, exactly, their relationship worked but if I learned anything from her interactions with Logan that night, it was that she was clearly just as enamored with him as he was with her. And they were cute, even if Nicky looked unsure of what to make of them at times.
I pulled off the highway now, following the instructions of the GPS to the house we were driving to. Annabeth's step mother had called a few days earlier and asked if we'd be willing to take a look at the place and see if it was worth seriously considering before they made the trip all the way to New York. They were planning on moving at the end of the year in order to be settled in time for Frederick to begin his new job in January and they needed to find a place to live soon and get the ball rolling. They were planning a trip in a few weeks, but needed our help in the meantime narrowing their options. Annabeth and I had looked at two others, closer to the city, during our lunch breaks the previous two weeks, but this one was too far out of the way to fit into our busy workweek schedule.
Logan and Jasmine had, by now, struck up their own quiet conversation, which went largely ignored by Nicky and Carly behind them. The former watched his sister disinterestedly as she doodled on a page of one of Annabeth's notepads, absently running a finger back and forth over the silver bracelet encircling his wrist. At nearly thirteen, I knew he'd only agreed to come with us because he was getting ice cream out of it later.
The GPS directed us to take the next right. Annabeth watched the road as I did so and then pointed. "I think it's right here." I didn't disagree as we moved further into the neighborhood and came upon a reasonably sized, gray house with a For Sale sign in the yard.
"Grandma and Grandpa are moving here?" Carly asked, peering up at it.
"We don't know yet," Annabeth answered as I turned off the engine, "We're just here to look at it so we can tell them if its one they should see when they come here."
"Are we all going in?" Nicky asked.
"I'd like you to but you don't have to if you don't want to," Annabeth answered, "We shouldn't to be too long though." She glanced at Logan and Jasmine, "You two can't stay by yourselves though. Sorry." The former blushed, apparently scandalized, and moved quickly to open his door. I hid my smirk.
Nicky moved to get out as well and waited for Carly in front of him to step down before he got out himself.
Tara, the realtor handling the house, was waiting for us inside. She showed us around the place and pointed out what were, I guess, supposed to be the important features. And if having four kids wander around the place on their own bothered her at all, she didn't say anything, which was probably wise.
The house was really modern and very white on the inside. It was smaller than the one the Chases currently had in California, but then, for just two people, it was still plenty big enough. Personally, I thought the place could do with a little color, but what did I know?
As predicted, we didn't stay long. After maybe twenty minutes, the six of us walked back toward the waiting car while Tara locked everything up behind us. "Is that it?" Carly asked me.
"Yup," I said, "We just had to come see what it looked like so we could let your grandma know."
"We drove really far just for that," she said disapprovingly.
I laughed. "Sorry, Peanut."
When everyone was in the car and once more busy with their own conversations, I looked at Annabeth before backing out of the driveway. She wore an odd expression on her face, one that I could not quite decipher with just a quick glance. "What are you thinking?" I murmured, shifting gears and pulling back up the road.
She glanced at me and then smiled a bit. "That I really hate that house."
I smiled. "You do?"
"You do too," she countered quietly. She wasn't wrong.
I smiled wider. "So?"
She shook her head but was still smiling when she replied, "I hate it, but I feel like it's exactly the sort of thing Theresa would love."
I chuckled quietly. "You would know, I guess."
She shook her head again as we came to a stop at a red light. "We're just very different people."
"Thank gods for that," I murmured. She smiled again.
I glanced behind us in the rear-view mirror just before turning onto the highway ramp and smirked. I didn't see who initiated it but Jasmine and Logan sat together, talking quietly and now hesitantly holding hands between them.
"Alright, we're only going in for a few things," Annabeth said, scanning through the shopping list she'd scribbled down before walking out the door hours earlier, "We should only be a few minutes if you guys want to wait in the car." She looked behind her to the kids in confirmation. None of them was particularly fond of grocery shopping. I didn't blame them. "It's up to you."
Logan turned to look at Nicky for his answer, apparently resigned to the fact that he could not be left alone with Jasmine and, as such, his actions depended on his siblings'. I wondered if he wasn't a bit grateful for this rule. I thought I would have been at his age. Girls were always intimidating, but, from the little experience I'd had, I remembered it being particularly bad then.
Nicky only shrugged. Carly, beside him, had been dozing for the past few minutes and, currently far closer to sleep than consciousness, was apparently content to use her brother as a pillow. He seemed inclined to allow it for the moment. Logan turned back to us and shrugged himself. "I guess we'll stay," he said easily.
"We'll leave the AC on for you," I told them, leaving the keys in the ignition and unbuckling my seat belt.
"Find a radio station you can all agree on, please," Annabeth added, doing the same and reaching for the door handle, "We'll be back soon. Keep the doors locked." She added this last part mostly for Jasmine's benefit, I knew, as a locked door would not exactly thwart any real threat posed to our kids.
"We'll be fine, Mom," Logan said knowingly.
"Good," she said and got out.
Once inside, she pulled out her list and scanned it again while I grabbed a shopping cart and joined her. "We need bread, milk, cereal, eggs, garbage bags, and flour," she informed me, "And we should probably get some fruit while we're here too."
"Divide and conquer?" I suggested.
She nodded. "Do you want to grab bread, flour, and garbage bags and meet me by produce?"
"Sure," I said, turning to go.
"Make sure you get the wheat bread without the seeds. The kids won't eat it otherwise."
"I've got it," I assured her quickly and turned away.
I wasn't gone very long. My assigned items were all fairly near each other. I found everything without incident and moved toward the produce section, items in hand. I cut through an aisle full of cleaning supplies and stopped short at the end upon catching sight of Annabeth at a nearby apple display. My eyebrows rose. She wasn't alone.
Some guy stood next to her, apparently trying to start conversation. He was blonde, rather unnecessarily burly, and seemed quite confident in himself. Even from probably thirty feet away, it seemed to exude from him annoyingly. He smiled at Annabeth and continued on. She only watched him, not yielding an inch, but leaned away from him slightly as if worried he might try to touch her. Honestly, I almost wished he would try. When she finally managed to get a word in edgewise with the guy, it was pretty clear what her response was, as only after she spoke did the dude seem to notice the ring she wore on her left hand. He left with his tail between his legs not long after. It was satisfying to watch.
"I can't leave you for five minutes," I smirked, joining her at last and depositing my gathered items into the shopping cart.
She gave me a look as she went back to sorting through the arranged produce. "I can't believe the nerve of that guy. I told him I wasn't interested twice and he still wouldn't take no for an answer until I told him I was married. Happily."
I grinned. "Is that all you said?"
Her answering smile told me no, it definitely was not. My own grew. "He couldn't handle me," she said simply.
"And I can?"
She turned away, still smiling, and tied off the end of the bag she'd filled with apples. "You're better qualified than most."
"I think that's a compliment," I replied playfully, taking the apples she handed me and putting them in the cart while she crossed to grab bananas across the way. Her smile was answer enough.
I watched her pick out the ones she wanted from my spot in front of the apples and I didn't blame that guy one bit for trying—though he should have accepted her refusal the first time. Almost seventeen years and three kids later, my wife was still gorgeous. It was simply a fact.
Along with the bananas, she grabbed a container of strawberries on her way back to me and found my gaze on her as she drew near. She rolled her eyes and added the fruit to the cart. "Let's go, Seaweed Brain," she said, smiling, "The kids are waiting."
"$26.79," the cashier at the ice cream shop said to us after inputting the last of our order into the computer. The kids were all seated at a table well behind us already, having received their ice cream already. Nicky was just sitting down beside Carly and, I noticed, leaving quite a bit of space between them and where Logan and Jasmine sat together with their ice cream. I smirked.
Annabeth paid the bill while another employee appeared with a cup of ice cream in hand and said, "Mint chocolate chip?"
"That's me," Annabeth answered, sticking her credit card and the receipt into her wallet. I took her order from the girl. I handed it to her just as mine came out. I thanked her as I took the cookies and cream she handed me, and then turned with Annabeth to sit down, following as she detoured to grab napkins first. "What do you think of them?" she asked quietly, nodding toward Logan and Jasmine while plucking a handful from the dispenser.
I shrugged. "I think she's nice and Logan's happy, even if he has no idea what he's doing."
She snorted. "I think it's mostly because she's mortal. We're all being careful. It works out that she's going out of town for the summer. At least camp won't be an issue then." I nodded. "After that, they'll either figure it out or they'll crash and burn."
"I think we did our fair share of both at their age," I added.
She grinned. "Oh, we definitely did."
We'd reached the table by now and sat down across from our younger two kids. I was struck by the thought that this was probably one of the last outings we'd make as a family before summer began and all three went off to camp for it. This year would be our first summer without any of them. The idea was slightly jarring.
Don't get me wrong, the idea of being alone with Annabeth for an extended period of time was definitely appealing, but I knew just from past years with only Carly how quiet things could seem without even two of them. Without all three, I didn't know what we'd do. The kids were growing up fast and we needed to treasure every minute we had with them.
And maybe get ourselves a hobby for the times we didn't.
Thanks for reading! I will post the next chapter as soon as I can. Have a great day!
