3 - Unexpected visitors

Sally

I am going to be a grandmother. I can't believe it. My eyes looked over my son. I could tell he was nervous, but at the same time there was an excitement in his eyes as well.

I felt tears prick the corners of my eyes. My son was going to be a dad. Memories from when he was little came back to mind.

Memories of when he was little and he had gotten a baby doll from the thrift store that day while we were shopping for clothes for his first day of kindergarten.

"Mommy," he had said, "is it fun being a mommy?"

I had smiled. "It is my favorite thing to do," I told him.

"Can I be a mommy someday?" the little five year-old asked me.

"Well, you won't be a mommy. You can be a daddy someday when your a lot older. You'll find a girl who makes you smile and you will want to be with her forever. Then you will love each other so much and you will be able to have a baby of your own. You'll be a daddy and she will be a mommy," I replied with a smile. Percy had held up his little baby doll.

"I'll practice with this baby," he said in a matter of fact way.

"That sounds like a good idea, baby," I had told him as I helped him buckle into the car.

He had talked about how he couldn't wait to have a real baby someday. He had, of course, grown out of it as he had gotten older, much preferring skateboards and basketball to dolls. But I always held that memory very dearly. And now his little five-year-old wish had come true.

"Wait, but you guys said you used a condom, right?" I asked.

Percy nodded. "Yeah. We used a condom every time. I honestly don't know how this happened," he said, sounding just as confused as I was.

Suddenly there was a bright flash in the center of the room. We all shut our eyes and turned our heads away.

"What the hell?" Paul shouted when we finally were able to open our eyes again.

In the middle of my living room stood a beautiful woman. She seemed to be glowing. Her dark hair was pulled up in a braided bun at the base of her head. She wore a long grey dress that was in a Greek cut. It flowed down to the ground. Over it she wore an elegantly carved silver breastplate. It didn't look big and heavy, it looked like she could move more easily in it while it still provided protection. I looked at her face and noticed her fierce gray eyes and immediately knew who she was.

It was Annabeth's mother, the goddess Athena.

There was another bright flash next to her and a man appeared. I knew this man immediately and slowly backed up and sat back on the couch. I could never forget those Hawaiian shirts and the shorts. But those sea green eyes that matched my son's…

"Poseidon?"

He looked over at me and smiled. "Hello, my darling. Mr. Blowfish," he said, nodding to Paul.

Paul was about to correct him but I gently placed my hand on his knee to warn him to just keep quiet.

Percy

I was shocked.

"Mom?" Annabeth whispered next to me.

"Dad?" I asked a little louder.

Poseidon laughed and walked over to me, pulling me into a big hug.

"Haha! My son is going to be a dad! Isn't that great, Athena?" he asked, looking back towards his niece.

Athena rolled her eyes at my dad's antics.

"It would be, if it wasn't my daughter who was forced to carry the child," she said, her voice even and serious.

"Mom, with all due respect, why are you here?" Annabeth asked.

"We thought we could answer your question. Zeus had Artemis cause the contraceptive to fail. We need that child," the goddess explained.

I frowned. I did not want my kid to already be part of some prophecy or plan.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"This child will be essential in the future. We couldn't wait for you both to have this child on your own," Athena answered.

"Unfortunately, that's all we can tell you," Poseidon said. Both of the gods suddenly looked out at the sky through the window.

"Father is calling us back. Believe me, if there is another way for this to happen, I will find it. I never wanted a child of mine to produce a child with a child of Poseidon," Athena said as she started glowing. She suddenly disappeared. Poseidon grinned at us and waved before he also vanished.

I frowned and rubbed my fingers over Riptide in my pocket.

"Percy?" Annabeth said softly, placing her hand on my shoulder.

"It has been days and the gods already have something big planned for our kid. Why can't they just leave us alone? And why did it have to be us?" I grumbled.

"Because we are powerful, especially together. I guess any children we have will also be quite powerful," Annabeth reasoned.

I sighed. "I guess so…" I agreed. I pulled my pen from my pocket and took the cap off, watching as it grew into a sword in my grip. I gazed at the celestial bronze, lost in thought.

Then I remembered something. "Wait, Annabeth, we have to tell your dad."