The sun had dipped into the horizon by the time Percy got home, and was well on its way out. He collapsed with a sigh on his couch, a cold beer in hand. After a long day of work and an hour of waiting in traffic (things were supposed to be easier with a motorcycle, but no such luck), the stillness of his loft was… unsettling. Calming, in a way, but Percy was never one for 'calming'. His leg jiggled, the keys in his pockets jingling along with the movement.

It wasn't long before thoughts of June and Annabeth seeped into his mind. Anytime he stayed still for longer than five minutes and let his defenses down, they came only to be shoved back down into whatever deep dark hole they'd escaped from.

He loved his daughter too much to give up on her. But he also respected Annabeth enough to want to respect her wishes.

It was the impasse of a lifetime. And a sucky one at that.

He missed not being a father – and then regretted that thought immediately.

As soon as he finished berating himself for it, the phone rang shrilly into the quiet apartment. Thank god, part of him cried, there was Leo or Octavian calling for help with something. Anything to get his mind working on something, the traitorous bastard of an organ.

He scrambled around in his pockets for his phone. "Hello?"

The voice on the phone was the last thing he was expecting. "Percy?"

Shit.

"Percy are you there?"

"Oh!" he blinked, making sure he wasn't imagining anything. "Yes, yes, I'm here. Right here. H- hi, Annabeth."

His heart raced. His palms grew damp with sweat and he perched on the edge of his seat.

"Oh," her voice sounded faint. Not angry, which was a good sign, but not shining with its usual confidence and clarity. "Hi. Um, listen, I have to run out, and it's really important, but Hazel's down with the flu, and I can't get ahold of anyone else; you know I wouldn't call if it wasn't absolutely pertinent, and I'm completely out of options here -"

"I'll do it," he interrupted abruptly, hardly believing his ears. "Yeah, I can totally watch June for you. No sweat." June, june, june, june, his heart raced.

He could hear her sigh over the phone with relief. "Oh, thank god. How soon do you think you can get here?"

"I'm leaving right now," he promised, one foot out the door.

-x-

He arrived twenty minutes later, a bit sweaty from running up the steps. He hadn't even knocked when the door swung open, admitting Annabeth. She was dressed as suavely as ever, but the look in her eyes was frantic. "Oh, good you're here," she breathed, slinging her bag over her shoulder. "Okay, so the numbers on the fridge, and she's just eaten dinner so don't worry about that. She's allowed dessert, but only one cookie, okay? Don't listen if she says any different. Umm, let's see, what else. I should be back by ten, but she needs to be in bed by nine." Annabeth looked up, eying him. "You got all that?"

Percy numbered it off on his fingers. "Numbers on the fridge, dinner already eaten, one cookie, in bed by nine."

Annabeth nodded breathlessly, turning back to say goodbye to June, hidden just behind her legs. His heart nearly stopped when he saw her, all flawless skin and dark curls, with eyes like the sea. "Mommy will be back soon, okay? Just listen to whatever Percy tells you, and don't give him any trouble. I love you." She kissed her twice on either cheek, and squeezed her tight. "Behave!" she called as she was running out to the car. Percy waited until it backed out and was down the street to turn back to the little girl, squatting so that they were face-to-face.

"So what's this I hear about a cookie?"

June's grin was face-splitting.

Two cookies each later (they were delicious and June was a devilishly persuasive one), they were settled into the couch, watching some Australian's kid show with like, talking teddy bears or whatever. "You're not going to tell your mom, are you?" he said, eyeing her chocolate stained fingertips.

She looked solemnly up at him. "I won't if you won't."

He laughed, and her little pink lips turned up into a smile.

They were quiet again, and one of the little Teddy bears fell into a hole and discovered the power of sharing or whatever. Five minutes later, June piped up again.

"Are you my dad?"

Percy froze. "What?"

June reached forward for the remote, turning off the TV, before facing him, frowning. "I heard my mom crying about it. Did you make her cry?"

Percy just blinked at her. "I… I hope not," he said softly.

June frowned. "So you did."

Percy opened his mouth before clicking it shut again. "I don't know, sweetie."

Narrowing her eyes, she waited a beat before dropping it, turning around and turning the TV back on as if nothing had happened. "My mom says that I don't need a daddy," she said a little while later. "I wouldn't mind if you were mine, though, even if you made her cry. Are you going to bring her flowers to make it better? That's what Cara from daycare's dad did. She told me."

"I don't think your mom wants flowers," he said, still in shock.

She shrugged. "Yeah, you're right. You'll give her something better, right?"

"I'll certainly try." The only way a kid this smart could've come from his genes was if Annabeth's genes were in there too to overpower his. And they definitely were.

"You should give her a ring," she said decisively, still watching her show. "And then you could stay here and be my daddy."

Percy pressed his lips to the top of her head. "I certainly wish it were that easy, love."

A/N: jflskajfkda. Okay, so truth be told, I wasn't really planning on updating this again, even though I have the end figured out. I know this is super short, and I apologize for that, but I honestly just wanted to put this out considering how long you've all had to wait. To be honest, the only reason why I even considered picking this up again was all the incredibly kind reviews asking me to update.

Finals and school are finally over, huzzah! More time to do things, except kind of not really? Since I have SAT classes.

Anywho.

Please follow my new tumblr (something weird happened to my last one… I still cry about it) .com for any possible updates on the status of the next one! It would mean the world to me. Also please leave a review and keep my motivation going!

Mucho love,

Anna x.