Estelle's P.O.V
"Dad's such a sap!" Isabelle said.
"Shh! Belle let Aunty Estelle finish the story! What happened after mum and dad graduated?" Beatrix replied excitedly.
"Trix," Isabelle rolled her eyes at her younger sister "You know what happens, they got married, got pregnant with me and then a little later on got pregnant with you and here we are."
"Yes, but the way you tell it is boring, the way Aunty Estelle tells it is much better!" Beatrix exclaimed.
I chuckled at my nieces. They were always the same when I looked after them, they always wanted to hear their parent's story no matter how old they got.
"Well after graduation, your mom and dad made the trip to San Francisco..."
16 Years Ago...
Annabeth and Percy set off at the crack of sparrows on their road trip. They stopped off in Columbus, Kansas City, Denver, Utah, and Nevada before finally arriving in San Francisco. It took them six days of driving to make it across the country and they stopped and did some sightseeing along the way too.
When they made it to Annabeth's parent's they were welcomed and congratulated on their engagement once again. Once they'd unpacked, this time they were both staying in Annabeth's old room; there was a knock at the door. Matthew and Bobby had left them two Nerf guns, much like they had done back in December, and issued them a challenged to claim the base in the living room. Annabeth and Percy took up the challenge with gusto but this time Mr. and Mrs. Chase had formed their own team and together they ended up winning their number of bases claimed being two to Percy and Annabeth's one. The twins lost but everyone involved had fun.
As promised back in December, Annabeth and Percy took the boys to swim with dolphins. Matthew and Bobby loved it and it was mostly all they talked about for the following week and a half that Annabeth and Percy had spent in San Francisco.
When they arrived back in New York, they spent the day following day, as promised, with Estelle. Percy and Annabeth had gone all out and dressed up for the occasion, Estelle had asked for a Disney day, and they had delivered. Percy had finally got to wear his Flounder costume and Annabeth had dressed up as Pascal. Estelle had not been pre-warned but had immediately run off and changed into her Bruni (the fire lizard from Frozen 2) costume, that Hazel and Frank had given her for her birthday. The three of them spent the day watching Disney films together and Estelle filled the happy couple in on what, she deemed important that, they'd missed.
A couple of weeks later Percy had a meeting with a publishing house for his first book. The day he signed the contract for the publication of his first of many, children's books, he also signed papers for his and Annabeth's first flat. It was one more of his surprises for Annabeth. they'd been looking at flats for weeks and this one Annabeth had fallen in love with, but it had been a little out of their price range, until Percy had received his advance for the books he'd yet to write.
She'd be mad at him, but only because they were supposed to be going halves on the mortgage. Percy had bought it outright, which had not been part of the original plan. As predicted Annabeth was mad, but she'd made him agree to let her pay the gas, electric and water bills and then called it even. Truthfully, she was so excited that they had the flat they'd fallen in love with, she couldn't really stay mad at him, but Percy didn't need to know that.
Annabeth started her post-graduate degree that fall and while Percy continued to write and work at the aquarium part time. He didn't need to work at the aquarium, but it got him out of the flat, he also continued to help out at Jacksons whenever he could. Annabeth graduated at the top of her class and secured a job at the firm that had offered her the internship.
"But Aunty Estelle, what about Aunt Piper and Uncle Jason?" Beatrix asked.
"I hadn't forgotten" I chuckled.
While Percy and Annabeth were away in San Francisco, Jason and Piper flew out to stay at Piper's parents for a couple of weeks. While they were there, Piper finished setting up her dating app; Pandemos. While Piper did that, Jason had a 'bonding day' with Tristan, the two of them went golfing. Luckily for Jason he'd been forced to take golf lessons at one of his private schools, so the day hadn't gone as badly as it might have done. The two returned as thick as thieves and when Jason asked Piper to move in with him later that week, Tristan was the first to say congratulations after Piper and squealed and said yes.
Hazel and Frank travelled to stay with Frank's Grandmother, and it was a toss-up as to who was more nervous on the way. Frank had never brought anyone home to meet his family before, and Hazel really wanted to make a good impression. As it turned out they were both worried for nothing. Grandma Zhang had pulled Frank to one side halfway through the week and said 'Don't let her get away. You need strong women in your life.' Which was as good as a blessing in Grandma Zhang's book!
"And Uncle Nico and Uncle Will?" Isabelle rolled her eyes, but I knew it was in jest she loved how excited Beatrix got about the story, and once upon a time she had done the exact same thing.
"Who could forget them?" I teased before continuing.
Nico and Will continued to date during the course of the summer and thereafter. Nico met Will's mom rather nervously at Will's Graduation ceremony and Will met Hazel and Nico's dad at Nico's graduation ceremony. They'd managed to avoid introductions until this point which Percy had tried to point out was shooting themselves in the foot as they now had to sit next to their boyfriend's parent for the whole event and make small talk with someone they'd only just met.
Both men started the days in question rather nervously but on both occasions, it ended up being for nothing. Will managed to hold his own with Nico's dad just fine, having inherited great people skills from his mom. Nico was perfectly fine too, when Will's mom sensed a lull in conversation or a topic that was not favourable, she did what she did best and moved the conversation along. As it turned out, both meetings went over really well with the parental figures and the rest as they say was history.
"So back to mom and dad?"
"What about Luke? You've missed that bit."
"Who's telling the story here?" I asked.
Luke was deemed unable to stand trial due to being not mentally competent. It wasn't that he didn't comprehend what he had done because both of his personalities absolutely did. But Luke had no control over which personality would be answering the questions in court.
Percy had been to see the judge in chambers and requested that he be sentenced to live out his days at one of the hospitals for the criminally insane. The judge had corrected him and said it was a Psychiatric treatment centre but had agreed it was the best plan of action to help Luke as well as Annabeth and Percy.
It took a couple of years, but Annabeth eventually did visit Luke at the treatment centre. Percy went with her, and they had a real conversation without goading one another. Annabeth had come away with the closure she had wanted when she had spoken to Luke at the police station and later, they both learnt that the visit had been very beneficial to Luke's recovery as well. They made a point to visit again.
Percy and Annabeth then started planning their wedding, neither wanted a big ceremony. So they didn't have one. They invited close friends and family, had a small romantic ceremony, which made everyone present cry, and reception before jetting off to Hawaii for their honeymoon. Percy had been nervous to get on a plane again, but Annabeth helped him through it just like she had the last time.
When they returned from their honeymoon they received some news from Percy's publisher, they wanted another ten books, and they were willing to pay a huge advance for them. They went out for dinner to celebrate and a month or so later received some more fantastic news. They were expecting a baby.
Eight months or so later, Isabelle Charlotte Jackson came into the world. A couple of years passed, Annabeth went back to work and got promoted, Percy wrote more books, the series took off and was ordered by schools all over the country. Then Annabeth had a week off sick, which was unheard of for her, but it turned out she was pregnant once again. Nine months later, Beatrix Emma Jackson came into the world.
"You've completely missed out Aunt Thalia and Aunt Reyna!" Beatrix exclaimed.
"And our cousins," Isabelle added getting back into the story again finally.
"And Uncle Ollie!"
"Honestly, why am I telling you this again?" I asked.
"Because you love us!" They replied together.
After the dinner with her and Chris' fathers, Thalia steered clear of Reyna for a bit.
"I've never understood this, why would she avoid her, she loves her?" Beatrix asked.
"If you stop interrupting – I'll tell you." I chuckled.
After the dinner with her and Chris' fathers, Thalia steered clear of Reyna for a bit. She was embarrassed about how the dinner had ended and didn't think she could salvage a relationship with Reyna.
Reyna had other ideas though, if Thalia wouldn't come to her, she was going to go to Thalia. So, in much the way she had told Thalia's dad all those weeks ago, she took Argentum back into the vets after asking Percy which day Thalia was working.
The visit was productive, it allowed them to talk and the awkwardness that Thalia felt to dissipate. It took a couple more vet visits from Reyna, but eventually Thalia worked up the courage to ask Reyna out to dinner, just the two of them. They waited for the law to pass in New York and then they got married, as did Nico and Will.
After Isabelle was born Jason got very broody, as did Piper. It wasn't long after that, that the pair got engaged and married. And very soon after that, Kieran Thomas Grace and Nicola Lauren Grace were born.
Frank and Hazel also waited for the marriage equality law to pass, although they didn't need too, before they got married. They later had a daughter called Emily Claire Zhang, who was obsessed with her Uncle Neek Neek.
"Don't forget Uncle Ollie!" Beatrix exclaimed again.
"I could never forget, your Uncle Ollie." I said.
Estelle and Oliver spent every spare minute together through the years, they grew up together, they laughed together, and they defended one another.
"Why did you need to defend each other?" Isabelle asked.
"Not everyone in this world is accepting of people's differences. Sometimes, children are told being different is wrong."
"You were bullied." Isabelle said with a concerned look that reminded me of her mom.
"We were." I confirmed.
"Why?" Beatrix asked.
"Well as you know Uncle Ollie can't hear and people bullied him for that, and they bullied me because I was his friend."
"But that's mean." Beatrix said.
"Yes, but not everyone wants to be everyone's friend like I did. And high school girls and boys can be really mean. The key is not to react to them, which we didn't do very well actually thinking about it."
"What did you do?" Isabelle asked.
"Well one day, Susie Finkle was teasing me about Uncle Ollie saying that I fancied him and that I wanted to kiss him."
"But you love Uncle Ollie, why wouldn't you want to kiss him?" Beatrix asked me.
"Yes I do, but at the time, the love I felt for Uncle Ollie was a platonic kind, I hadn't thought about him in that way before this moment. Uncle Ollie was doing his best to lip read but Susie Finkle spoke so fast it was hard for him to understand what she was saying. But he could see I was getting upset."
"But why?" Beatrix asked.
"I was upset because she was suggesting that there was something wrong with fancying Uncle Ollie that there was something wrong with wanting to kiss him. And that simply wasn't true. I was also upset because I didn't know how to respond in a way that didn't hurt Uncle Ollie. I did love him but in that moment it was because he was my best friend. I was a little bit younger than Isabelle at them time and kissing boys wasn't something I had thought about, at least not as much as Susie Finkle."
"So what did you do?" Isabelle asked again, I smiled she had never been patient; she reminded me a lot of me at that age actually.
"Something really stupid, that got me in a lot of trouble with the school and Grandma Sally." I confessed. "I signed to Uncle Ollie what she had said and he signed back to tell me to ignore her and I should have. But I didn't, I did the one thing Grandma Sally had always told me not to do, I resorted to violence and I smacked her around the face. Then Uncle Ollie pulled me away before Susie could retaliate."
"But you got together" Beatrix said.
"Eventually, it didn't happen that day, or that school year. It took us a little longer to figure it out. But yes the year we turned sixteen, Uncle Ollie asked me out on a date and I said yes. Right I hate to be a party killer but if your mom and dad get back and you're still not in bed I'm going to be in a lot of trouble."
"But, what about your date with Uncle Ollie?" Beatrix asked as I pulled back the covers on her bed and she climbed in.
"How about I tell you that one another day?" I said hearing the keys turn in the front door. Isabelle climbed into her bed too and I gave them both a kiss goodnight.
"Goodnight Aunty Estelle" They said.
"Good night, I love you both" I replied.
As I walked away from the door I heard Beatrix ask Isabelle, "Do you think Uncle Ollie and Aunty Estelle will get married Belle?"
"Yeah, I do Trix" I smiled as I headed back down the hallway, that was something I wanted too.
As it turned out it was not Percy and Annabeth returning home early but Ollie with dinner.
'Sorry I'm so late' He signed.
'That's okay, were they busy?" I signed back.
He nodded in response to my question and placed the Chinese food on the kitchen island. I retrieved the plates from the cupboard underneath and we dished up dinner.
'Did they ask for The Seal and The Owl again?' He signed.
'Yes' I nodded, before we headed back to the sofa to enjoy a quiet night in babysitting our nieces.
Percy woke me up when he and Annabeth got home.
"Hey sorry to wake you, I just wanted to let you know you could go to bed, rather than getting a kink in your neck."
"What time is it?" I asked.
"Just after eleven" Annabeth answered.
"Where's Ollie?" Percy asked.
"You know how he is, he was falling asleep at about half nine so I told him to go to bed and I'd wait up for you."
"Effective" Percy teased.
"How was your dinner?" I asked Annabeth, ignoring Percy's teasing.
"Lovely, thank you Estelle, how were the girls?" She asked me as we made our way through the flat to the bedrooms.
"Perfect as always." I promised.
"How many times did you read our story?" Percy asked as we reached the room Ollie and I stayed in, when we slept over at theirs.
"I'm offended that you don't think I know it off by heart seeing as I lived through it." Percy chuckled silently and pulled me in for a hug.
"Thank you for watching them." He said.
"Anytime" I promised before slipping into the guestroom.
I climbed into bed and as soon as I settled down Ollie wrapped his arms around me. Not knowing that, that proposal wasn't as far away as I thought, I fell asleep with a feeling of home and dreaming of a future with Ollie. Or as Percy would come to write, The Seal and The Dalmatian.
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The End
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~Author's Note~
Well that's all Folks! I really hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Thank you for all your lovely comments throughout the story it's been greatly appreciated and at times just what I needed to get me past a writers block or two!
Much like I did when I finished, We Only Want to Help, as this is the last post, I'm going to forego the long replies once again and just give each of you a shout out instead.
SarcasmRocks, Merenomilano, QueenAnnabeth18, Something-PJO-Idk, TheProudPearl24, WiseGrl14, bookaholic4ever, Authorforeverything, Dawn. Justice, insanedreamer7905, sranupama2005, SAS7ROCKS, Aweesh Ganegoda, AB242911, jackseaweedjackson, Anz2Fire, Ramionepercabethparker, McShizzleSupreme778, Megarayquaza8121, TheDayofRickening, Astra2111, Clong464, LilacReads, TheGRAND7, dclark04, SpillTHEteaNOW, TheFatherDrPeso, Annabeth SWIFTIE, Violinpunk, PhoenixAtTheHorizon, Pandelfique, Amythest Chackson, DemeterDottir, Going Dark and everyone who commented as a Guest thank you so much for taking the time to do so!
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