Percy's P.O.V

When the film ended Annabeth was sleeping on me, Thalia was sleeping with her head resting on Annabeth still holding Nightshade close on her chest. Chris and Clarisse were sleeping, as were Piper and Malcolm. Piper's head was resting on Malcolm's shoulder they looked good together - I had a camera out earlier taking photos of our night together so I snapped a picture of the two of them. Hazel and Frank are asleep too; Franks arm was resting protectively on Hazel's stomach.

I was so happy for them; they were going to make such great parents. I found myself wondering who the baby was going to look more like Hazel or Frank. I knew it didn't matter, that baby was already loved so much, Uncle Percy had a nice ring to it I thought.

"What you thinking about Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth whispered to me.

"I'm sorry, I woke you when I took that last photo didn't I? I'm sorry" I said pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "I was just thinking Uncle Percy has a nice ring to it" I said truthfully.

"I think it does too" she told me "do you think we'll get Nightshade back?" She asked me half joking half serious. Before I could answer Nightshade, hearing her name, moved off Thalia to Annabeth and she started scratching behind her ears, Nightshade nuzzled Annabeth's stomach in contentment.

"I think so" I whispered as Thalia woke up.

"Hey who pinched Nightshade?!" She looked around and saw that Nightshade was next to her on Annabeth.

"Thals, she is my puppy" Annabeth said smiling "but I didn't move her she came of her own accord"

"That's almost worse" she said, she checked the time and we both recognised that she had to go.

We walked Thalia to the door with Nightshade in tow. Thalia bent down and stroked her one last time.

"Don't forget me Nightshade, I'll be back to see you soon" she said before hugging us both "I'm coming back to see you both soon too, set a date for this wedding already and don't wait too long" she said before stepping out into the summer night setting off to join the hunt once more.

Within the next couple of hours all of our friends had departed, we'd cleared up the snacks and fed Nightshade. We were sitting in the lounge and Thalia's parting words were ringing in my mind.

"Wise Girl" I said running my hand through her hair "when do you want to get married?" I asked.

"Thalia, got to you didn't she?" she said looking up at me.

"She didn't get to me, but it definitely got me thinking" I replied, she nodded and I could see her thinking about it.

"An autumnal wedding would be nice" she said to me.

"Would you want to get married this autumn?" I asked fully aware that that would only give us a few months to get everything in place but at the same time I'd marry her tomorrow if that's what she wanted.

"I think so, what about October 24th?" And I could see the plans had started in her head.

"Whatever you want Wise Girl, as long as I get to call you my wife" I leaned down and kissed her, Gods I loved her.

"I'll start planning tomorrow and we'll have to send invites out right away - ok I could get those done tomorrow-"

"Annabeth" I interrupted "slow down, you'll fry your brain" and I realised that by saying yes to October I've opened a door that I cannot close. Before I could say anything else she'd raced off to her study Nightshade following at her heels, I waited to see if she was going to come back but after five minutes I decided I was probably best to follow.

I found her searching for a blank notebook and before I could help me self I picked up a sketch of two children and I realised that this was what I saw in my mind's eye yesterday as I was describing what I thought our future children would look like. She's so talented; I knew I was smiling like an idiot.

"Seaweed Brain, what have I said about -" she stopped as she realised that I haven't touched any of her work but something we both were hoping for in the future.

"Sorry" I said "did you find what you were looking for?" I asked tearing my eyes away from the picture to look at her and she nodded.

She cleared a space on top of her work bench and took a seat. I followed suit and soon felt Nightshade nudging my foot as she couldn't sit as the stools were too high. I reached down and picked her up and she curled up in my arms placing her head on my shoulder. I smiled and stroked her head as I sat back down across from Annabeth.

"So... what's that for?" I asked her.

"Guest list" she said and she opened it and started scribbling down names of people we'd want at our ceremony. I hadn't really thought about it but if she wanted to send out invitations tomorrow she'd need a complete list.

"Apart from our parents and Rachel are there any mortals you want to invite?" She asked me and I thought about it, but it's not like any of my mortal friends except for Rachel knew about our world they had only ever had half truths.

"No, I don't think so - you?" I asked.

"No" she agreed, she showed me the list as and I nodded I couldn't think of anyone else to invite. I looked at the clock and it was getting really late.

"Maybe we should hit the hay?" I asked Annabeth blinked a few times as if pulling herself out of one of her project trances.

"Right, yes I hadn't realised how late it was" she replied and I smiled. I could tell she was getting really into the planning of our Wedding.

"You know" I said as I placed Nightshade in her bed "one could argue you're being very Aphrodite, right now" and before she had a chance to swing for me a bolted up the stairs. She knew I was only teasing her and it was part of what made us, well us. She came into the bedroom, an annoyed look on her face.

"Do you think I should get Piper's help? Is that it? Because, I'm not a child of the love Goddess, I'm not the right person to plan this?" I could hear fear in her voice and the tears catching in her throat.

"No" I said and I realised what had meant to be a joke, had not come across as such. "Gods, Annabeth I'm sorry, I was only joking - I didn't mean to upset you" I crossed our bedroom and enveloped her in a hug and repeated "I'm sorry."

"Its okay" I heard her mumble against my chest.

"No" I said stepping back and pulling her down on to the bed next to me. "No it's not, talk to me, why did it bother you?" I asked and I really wanted to know.

"I just - I'm the daughter of Athena, I don't know how all these things are supposed to go, love isn't my specialty" she said and a tear escaped from her eye and rolled down her cheek. I brushed it away with my thumb and looked her in the eye.

"You love with everything you have Annabeth, I should know, just because you aren't a child of Aphrodite doesn't mean you don't know love." I said and I could see her smile threatening to make an appearance. "Our day will be amazing because I get to marry you. I know whatever you have planned up here-" I said pointing to her head "-also comes from here-" I placed my hand on her heart. "I'm sorry my joke hurt you it wasn't what I had intended, but you know sometimes I speak without thinking"

"Sometimes?" She asked me and raised an eyebrow at me and she is now smiling so I know she's joking with me.

"Okay- maybe a few more times than some" I relented but I managed to make her laugh so hopefully all is well again. She leaned over and kissed me.

"Thank you Seaweed Brain" she said and I was confused again but I decided not to ask but I didn't have too. "For explaining and cheering me up, I'm sorry I took it to heart" she told me.

"I love how big your heart is" I said to her and she gave me a puzzled look. But got up and ready for bed so I did the same.

Annabeth's P.O.V

Once we'd got into bed I voiced my thoughts. "But, I'm not the one with the big heart you are" I told Percy, how could he believe I had a big heart?

"Annabeth" he groaned at me like I didn't understand and I frowned because I didn't and I hated the feeling of not knowing. "You're heart is so vast, you care for so many people and creatures alike. I know-" he paused as if wandering how to continue "I know in the past you've been guarded with your heart, but when you open it up to people, they never leave it." I thought about what he had said and missed completely what he was saying now.

"Sorry Percy, could you say that last bit again? I missed it" I confessed.

"I said" and he smiled at me "look at Luke-" I felt a pang if grief at the loss of Luke who I thought of as an older brother. "Through it all, you always believed that he could be saved, that your love for him could save him, if you could just make him see it" I tried to protest that it wasn't my love for him but Percy stopped me. "I know it was a different kind of love to ours-" he paused and then added "-now. I didn't, I'll admit at the time, and I'm sorry for how jealous I was and that it fuelled my anger towards him. I - l was wrong and in the end - well you know in the end I chose to believe as you did that he would do the right thing, that he could be saved." He paused again and looked in very deep thought and as much as I wanted to speak up and voice my opinions, he was on a roll so I waited. "I don't think- actually I know we wouldn't have defeated Kronos if it wasn't for you. It was my belief in you that made me do the right thing Wise Girl." He said and I didn't really know what to say. He made it sound like I was the reason we won the war which was ridiculous. Percy was the reason we won the war, he had taken on almost half of the Titan army single-handedly, and he'd made the right choice to trust that Luke would do the right thing in the end. What had I had to do with that?! We didn't talk about our past adventures much, but it was nice to talk about it in this way.

"I doubt you'd have made the wrong choice" I told him "and, I'm sorry too, if I hadn't been so jealous of your friendship with Rachel and I know now how wrong I was then too" I stopped, shaking my head.

"Shall we agree that we were just a couple of kids who were totally in love with each other and jealous of anything that threatened that relationship even if it wasn't in place the way it is now?" He asked. I leaned over and kissed him and nodded.

"When did you get so wise?" I asked him.

"When I met you" he gave me the same answer he always gave me when I asked him that question.

We snuggled up in bed and in almost no time at all I drifted off to sleep.

When I woke Percy had already left for camp, I knew he had an early morning class. Now my duties in Olympus had finished I found I had a lot of spare time on my hands. Which now we had a wedding to plan was actually kind of useful. I was just finishing putting all the save the dates in envelopes when I heard Nightshade barking, well puppy barking, so I got up and followed her to the front door and found I had a visitor. I opened the door and was surprised to find Clarisse stood on our doorstep I gestured for her to come in. Once I'd made us some coffee and settled on the sofa, Nightshade came up and nudged her leg. Clarisse reached down and picked her up and Nightshade's tail started wagging furiously.

"I guess she is kind of-" she swallowed "-cute" she finished and I laughed once a child of the God of War always a child of the God of War I guess.

"So Clarisse, is everything okay?" I asked I had a huge amount respect for Clarisse; I had since we'd bonded over our exploration for the labyrinth.

"Oh yeah fine" she said "I was hoping well Chris and I were hoping, you'd design our house - Chris was really - okay we both were really impressed with your secret room. We got to talking and thought maybe you might want to draw up the plans?" She finished and I could tell she was a little nervous.

"Of course I will - do you guys know what sort of things you want? I mean Percy and I when I designed this house it was to almost combine the best parts of our camp cabins." I said and I could see her thinking about it and hoped that maybe the land mines weren't something she considered to be the best part of her camp cabin.

"Maybe we could all get together one night and go over it?" I suggested after a little silence had passed.

"Okay" she said and stood "Thanks Annabeth" and almost as quickly as she had arrived she was gone again.

I wanted to get all the save the dates out today so I went to the salt water fountain and asked the Goddess of the rainbow to show me Hermes. I hadn't tried to iris message a God before but I hoped it would work.

"Annabeth, hello" Hermes' voice came over the connection.

"Lord Hermes, I'm sorry to interrupt your busy day, I have some mail that is for gods, demigods and mortals a like and I wondered if maybe you would distribute them for me?" I asked. He pondered this for a moment and before he could reply I added "I hoped that maybe all the recipients could receive them at the same time, I don't actually know how to go about your normal service I'm sorry" I said feeling stupid, suddenly remembering Percy and used his services back on our first quest together, there was a pouch and he'd put Drachmas in it.

"I will send you the necessary forms and pouch to fill in and then of course I'll deliver them" he responded.

"Thank you Lord Hermes" I said and he cut the connection before heading back to what I'm sure was a really busy day.

I looked through of all the plans I had for the wedding and I knew I needed to speak to a lot of people at camp. I knew Percy was teasing me last night but in a way he was right I would need help with this plan.

I decided to walk to camp; I knocked as I entered his office in the big house.

"Annabeth, dear how are you?" Chiron asked.

"Good and you?" We exchanged pleasantries and I eventually got to the point of why I had come. I wanted permission to have our ceremony at camp so most of our guests would be safe but it would also mean that I was asking for a special request for mortals to be allowed into camp for a weekend. I had filled in the forms for Hermes to deliver the save the dates and I could see Chiron's had already been delivered.

"Yes, I believe we could accommodate this, especially for you and Percy" I blushed; I knew I was like a surrogate daughter to him just as he was like a second father to me. I appreciated the favour he was granting me. "Your post has stirred a lot of excitement around the camp, given campers something to look forward to, especially those who go home at the end of the summer." He said to me and I was glad.

"When did they arrive?" I asked "I've not long sent them" I explained.

"Ah but a wedding of two half bloods is rare, and you did use the Hermes express service" he said. We continued to chat about things happening at camp and what I would do now that I had finished my project in Olympus. Eventually he had to go and teach an archery class and so I set off in search of Piper.

I didn't have to go very far, I found her in her cabin, I knocked as I entered. "Piper?" I called out and I had forgotten how pink this cabin was.

"Annabeth!" She rushed over and gave me a hug, the save the date still in her hand. "I'm really looking forward to this" she said holding up her left hand with her save the date in it and I smiled I was glad.

"That's actually why I'm here" I said "I was hoping you might help me?" I asked.

"Oh of course I will! After everything you've done for me - you don't even have to ask" I smiled we were falling back into our old rhythm and it was nice.

"Thank you - I'm good with a plan but maybe even a child of Athena could use some help with this type of plan" I said.

"When do we start?" She asked me and I said whenever she liked as we had relatively short time line the sooner we started the better.

I explained the few ideas that I had so far to her as we sat in her cabin and she sat and listened and nodded thoughtfully.

"Okay - I'll speak to Jake in the Hephaestus cabin and Katie from Demeter..." she trailed off and I recognised the look in her eyes the look of a plan forming, it was one I imagined people saw on my face a lot.

I left Piper to think on what I had spoken to her about and I walked back through the camp towards the village. I found myself thinking about the house Clarisse and Chris would want. I knew it would be challenging to tie their two cabins together but I had an idea that I needed to mock up originally I thought of it for their house but I wandered if it would work for camp also.

As I got home Nightshade bounded over to me happily and I stroked her head and fed her. I sat on the floor next to her stroking her as she ate so she understood if someone else touched her while she ate that they weren't a threat so that she wouldn't snap at them. I found myself wondering how my mother felt about the save the date and how my father and step mother felt about it. But, the one I really wanted to know about was Percy's mother Sally she'd always treated me like I was eventually going to be her daughter in law one day and now I was, I hoped the reality met the expectation she had all those years ago.

We had decided although we didn't necessarily like all of the Gods/ Goddesses that we would invite all of the Olympians after all just because we didn't respect Queen Hera who just happened to be the Goddess of marriage didn't mean we wanted her to curse our marriage either. And, then there was Lady Artemis who did not believe in the love of men, but we respected her too much not to at least invite her. I wondered what we would do in terms of a reception I hadn't thought about this part yet and it was something I wanted to speak to Sally and my Dad about... see what they thought I knew both would have helpful insights on how to go about it both having had weddings themselves.

I thought about a lot of other things for the wedding and I found that I soon got lost in my own thoughts.

Piper's P.O.V

I was so glad Annabeth had asked for my help not only with her wedding but her brother. I'm glad she trusted me enough to ask me and trusted me enough to know I would do all I could to help. It was nice to have something more than camp duties to do again.

I had a meeting with Malcolm in ten minutes so I freshened up and made myself more presentable. Even as I did it I wasn't really sure why, Malcolm had seen me post activities before, I supposed it's a reflex one Aphrodite had embedded in me. I headed out to the beach and waited for Malcolm, he did not take long to find me, he was always on time.

"Hi Piper" he said nervously he'd been nervous around me since we had woken up at Percy and Annabeth's, my head on his shoulder his arm around me.

"Hey Malcolm, how did the lava wall go today?" I asked, he didn't look like he'd got hit too badly but he'd also had a lot of practice.

"Well, most campers made it up all the way avoiding the lava only a couple got hit. Much improved from last week at least" he said and then asked me how Pegasi riding had gone.

"I mean I doubt I'll ever be as good as Selina or Percy but the campers seemed to enjoy" I replied, Malcolm seemed to ponder this.

"Percy and Selina both had different ways with the Pegasi. As you know Percy can communicate with horses and from what I've heard they treat him like a God. But, Selina's compassion for the animals was what made her such a good rider, even though they couldn't talk to her like they can to Percy, they appreciated how much she cared about them. I guess it was a different form of communication" he told me and it I had to admit it made me feel a little better.

"Thanks Malcolm" I always forget how long Malcolm had been at camp, apart from Annabeth he had been here the longest. He looked striking like his sister he had blonde hair and grey eyes and yet they were also noticeably different. I supposed that was the mortal side of their heritage although I wasn't sure how that worked with the way the children of Athena were born.

Malcolm smiled at me and it was a heart warming smile even if he was nervous. "So how does this work?" He asked me.

I raised an eyebrow humorously at him, such a child of Athena, wanting to know how emotions work like there was a logical answer.

"This isn't a logical problem" I replied "your brain won't help you with this and I understand that concept is difficult for you" I said and I was reminded of the time Annabeth and I ran through tunnels of panic and fear, I had told her the same thing, it's emotional not logical.

"But, how am I supposed to figure it out if I can't use my brain?" I chuckled a little at him, I wasn't trying to make fun of him in anyway, but his indecision looked cute, I've never seen him look confused before. I placed a hand on his chest where his heart would be.

"This is a problem for your heart, you have to feel the answer" he scrunched his brow and I knew it was hard for him to accept.

"Now I know why Annabeth had such a hard time admitting she was in love with Percy, even if it was obvious to everyone, even me." I had heard the stories of how clueless Percy and Annabeth had been towards their own feelings so early on and smiled. "It's hard for us, to ignore our brains and let our hearts take over" he said.

"I'm not asking you to ignore your brain; I'm just saying in this instance it isn't going to help you solve your problem."

Malcolm's P.O.V

As I stood on the beach with Piper's hand on my chest listening to her tell me how my brain couldn't solve a problem of the heart. I found myself thinking how wise she was for a daughter of Aphrodite and I was very aware of her hand on my chest. I could feel my heart hammering away in my chest, Gods I hope she can't feel how fast my heart is racing.

I looked at Piper and sighed. "I'm not some great hero like Percy or Annabeth or you Piper. No one is going to look at me like they do you guys. Don't get me wrong I never wanted to be a great hero, I just-" I found words failing me in a way they hadn't before.

"Malcolm" she said and she pulled me down to sit on the dock with her. "Percy doesn't love Annabeth because she's a great hero and vice versa. I'm not going to lie to you Mal - what Annabeth and Percy have it's the truest form of love, it's something everyone wants but only a few ever really find. As a daughter of Aphrodite even I get a little jealous of how true their love is. That being said, I do believe that everyone has a soul mate and I know that I can help you find yours" she said and what she said about Percy's and Annabeth makes sense to me even in a logical way.

"There you go, doing it again" she said to me and she's smiling at me as if to make fun of me.

"What?" I asked her.

"You're using your extraordinary brain to try and make sense of Percy and Annabeth's love" she said.

"But, even in a logical way it does make sense" I said to her "I mean even I knew Annabeth had a crush on him when they came back from their first quest. And, that Percy loved her when he ran away from camp to rescue her even though it wasn't his quest."

"Of course their love makes sense its true love, that's what I'm trying to tell you" she said and I don't think I'll ever understand love and I told her as much.

"Again, that's what I'm trying to tell you, you don't have to understand love to feel it." I looked at her and I've never been more confused in my life.

"How do you know that's what you're feeling if you don't understand it?" I asked her and she's still smiling at me and it's like a seriously beautiful smile and I realise that she's not making fun of me at all but I am proving her point. "This is what you're trying to tell me isn't it?" I asked "that the more I try to understand it the hard it's going to be for me to find it"

"Mal" she smiled shaking her head at me and I realised she's the only one to call me Mal and I like that she does. "It's not going to make it any harder for you to find love. It is going to make it harder for you to recognise it though."

"It's very hard for me to fight my nature" I said to her.

"I'm not asking you to do that" she said to me in a serious way. "Look at Percy and Annabeth, did Percy ever ask her not to be who she was?"

"No" I answered her.

"Exactly, he loves her for who she is and her intellect is included in that." She told me and I know she's right but I still don't understand.

"I know you're right about Percy and Annabeth-" I started

"But, you still don't understand it" she finished and I nodded and I appreciated how much she understood me. "Tell me about things and people you love" what does she mean? Isn't that the whole point of us being here? "Okay I'll start you off" she said to me clearly seeing my confusion. "You have a love of knowledge" and I realised what she meant and I nodded.

"Of course I do I'm a child of Athena" I said and she laughed and it's such a beautiful sound.

"I know that Mal, but that's not why you love knowledge" she told me and she's right I realised.

"I love it because I understand it" I admitted and I still don't know how this will help me.

"Exactly, and you love your dad and your mom" she said to me.

"Yeah but that's different and you know even more different with mom"

"I do know it's different and that's what I'm trying to show you." She said smiling at me she's not making fun of me she's genuinely trying to teach me about something I really don't understand and she was being really patient with me.

"That I have love in my life already?" She smiled at me in a way that lets me know I got the answer right and I smiled back at her I feel like I'm actually starting to understand.

"Of course you do. It may not yet be romantic love Mal. But, you have known and do know love." I gazed out at the water and I realised for the first time that it's the first time I've taken my eyes of Piper. Her words brought my eyes back to hers. "I can see I've given you a lot to think about and to process" the way she said 'and process' like she doesn't want me to think about it really she wants me to feel it, that much I do understand.

I nodded and stood offering my hand to help her up which she took. "Thank you, I think I'm starting to understand a little" I said to her, and we heard a conch horn sound in the distance signalling that it's time for dinner as we walked back into the heart of camp.

Percy's P.O.V

I went into the centre of the village where the shops and restaurants are and I wandered into the photography store. I wanted to print out the photos from the other night. I have a whole trunk full of photos and photo albums at home. I know a lot of people think I'm sentimental and I guess I am, but one of my happiest memories of living with my mom is looking through old photos of me as a baby and remembering all of the fun times we had. I'm especially fond of those of me and my little sister Estelle. How to describe her, if I didn't know magic was real; I would say she is magic. She has the ability to light up the room around her and she's 100% mortal so you know it's magical.

I walked up to the counter and it's one of Annabeth's siblings that ran the store.

"Hey Percy" she greeted me with a smile, as she always did.

"Hey Liv" her name is actually Olivia but she prefers Liv.

"More photos to print?" She asked and I passed over the camera, I'm a frequent visitor to the store.

"Always, so how are you?" I asked.

"Good thank you, how are you? How's Annabeth?" She asked.

"We're good thank you" I said as she passed me back the camera and an envelope of photos. "How much do I owe you for these?" I asked.

"On the house for my future brother in law" she said to me.

"You don't have to do that" I said.

"I want to, have a nice day Percy and say hi to Annabeth for me!"

I promised to say hi to Annabeth and headed out to the florist which was run by Katie Gardner. I realised on the way that I probably should have got Annabeth more flowers. That's what they always did in the movies, but Annabeth wasn't like any of those women she was better. I got her a bouquet of lilies and set off back to our house.

When I got home Annabeth was sitting on the floor of the kitchen stroking Nightshade as she ate her lunch. She didn't look up when I walked in and I knew she was lost in thought; Nightshade didn't seem to mind and crawled into her lap when she'd finished eating. Annabeth continued to stoke her and I loved the faraway look she got when she was so deep in thought usually about a problem or a project. It used to be how she looked trying to figure out a prophecy or quest. I walked over to the table and she looked up as if seeing me for the first time.

"Percy" she smiled as she said my name and stood up holding Nightshade. "I'm sorry how long have you been home? I was going to make you lunch and I've not even started." She shook her head the way she always did when she got frustrated with herself it was one of the many, many things I loved about her.

"Annabeth, I've only just got home don't worry." I smiled and leaned in to kiss her before handing her the flowers.

"They're beautiful Percy thank you" she passed Nightshade to me and I must have looked confused because she chuckled and the said "lilies are poisonous to dogs."

"Oh" I said "I'm sorry Girl" I said to Nightshade and she nuzzled my neck affectionately. "I didn't know"

Annabeth's smiling at me now probably because we're in our familiar groove of me not knowing and her having all the answers.

"She'll be okay, don't worry, we just need to keep them out of her reach" she told me as she set to work putting them in a vase. I placed Nightshade on the floor and walked over to the pantry and pulled out ingredients to start making lunch.

"How was your morning?" I asked her as I set myself to work slicing peppers, tomatoes, onions and mushrooms.

"Productive" she said and then told me everything she's been up to this morning. I had to say she'd been busy. "Oh I was going to-" she said as she places the flowers in the windowsill in the kitchen, noticing that I've started lunch.

"I know you were, but I'm happy to do it" I said, the truth is I love cooking, especially cooking for Annabeth. My mom taught me while I lived at home and I'm really thankful for that. I leaned over and kissed Annabeth again and no matter how many times I do that my heart always gets fluttery and I knew it always would. An iris message broke us apart when I heard my mom's voice.

"Percy- oh" she stopped realising she's cut in on a romantic moment. I pulled away from Annabeth smiling and she's smiling too. We used to get so nervous about kissing in front of my mom.

"Hi mom, how are you?" I asked as I continued chopping and throwing ingredients into a pan.

"I'm good thanks hunny; I've just got your sister down for her nap. How are you both?" She asked as Annabeth had settled in a chair on the other side of the island opposite me but is still in view of the message.

"We're good thanks Sally" Annabeth answered and then asked "did you get your mail?" And, she seemed nervous but I'm not sure why, my mom has always loved Annabeth. She thinks she's the best influence, other than herself of course, that I've ever had. I realised that she wanted my mom to approve of her.

"I did" and I could hear the smile in her voice she knows Annabeth is seeking her approval but she's not above teasing. "We're really looking forward to it" she relented after a pause and I saw Annabeth visibly relax a little. "Besides by my count I've been waiting seven years for this" she teased - there it is, I think, Annabeth and I blushed.

"Mom-" I groaned at her we were never going to get married that young but she knew even then how I had really felt about Annabeth even if I hadn't known it myself.

"Sally stop teasing them" Paul's voice came from behind her "hey kids" he said as he hugged my mom from behind and I realised that Paul is actually quite a romantic guy.

"Hey Paul" we said together as I put a pot of pasta on.

"So how is my little sister?" I asked as I've been thinking about her quite a bit today.

"She's good, less trouble than you were" my mom teased me and Annabeth laughed and it's so magical it warms my heart and I can't help but smile at her.

"That's not hard - I bet Seaweed rain got into all kinds of trouble" Annabeth said throwing a mushroom at me; I caught it in my mouth still smiling at her.

"I wasn't that much trouble" I said to her "right mom?" I asked looking at her.

"Right" she said rolling her eyes again still teasing me but I just rolled my eyes back at her. What!? I am her son after all.

"I'm glad it's not as difficult for you this time" I said and I meant it, not just because there aren't any monsters trying to get Estelle but because she's got Paul.

"Percy, hunny you know I was teasing" she said.

"I know mom, but I mean it" and she smiled back at me in response "can we call back mom? Lunch is just coming together?" I said and she agreed and disconnected our connection.

I served up two plates of pasta and sauce before placing them on the table. Annabeth set the table as I dished up and we tucked in.

"That was really nice, what you said to your mom" she said to me and it occurs to me that she's already lived through this with her dad although; she was much younger at the time.

"Don't do that" I said to her and she looked up at me knowing I caught her true meaning behind the statement. "Don't put yourself down. You were too young, and besides you have a great relationship with them all now." I said to her and took her hand.

"I know I just wish -"

"I know but I have something you didn't" I said.

"What's that?" She asked me and I could see tears forming in her eyes.

"I have you and all your wise counsel" I said "you were so young when the twins were born Annabeth; it's natural to want what they had at that age. I'm on the verge of marrying the most amazing woman in the world. You always give me the best advice; do remember how nervous I was when Estelle was born what you said to me?" I asked her.

"I told you you'd be an amazing big brother and you are" I smiled at the compliment; I do love being a big brother.

"And, you're an amazing big sister to Bobby and Matthew. But, they aren't the only people you're an amazing sister too. You learnt how to be that amazing sibling here at camp too" I said.

"Thanks Seaweed Brain" she smiled at me and finished her lunch.

"Always Wise Girl" I say "oh by the way Liv says hi" I said remembering that she'd asked me to pass that on.

"You printed more photos?" She asked and I nodded with mouthful of pasta.

"I guess we should find a better place to store them than that trunk of yours" she said.

"Hey!" I protested "it's actually more organised than you think" she raised an eyebrow at me sceptically and I supposed with good reason. I haven't always been the tidiest person but I've improved greatly since I've been with Annabeth. Once the plates are cleared we went into the lounge where my trunk is kept and I opened it and showed her rows of leather bound photo albums that store all our memories.

"You weren't kidding" she said and reached out for one but then seemed to think better of it and withdrew her hand.

"No, I wasn't - which were you reaching for?" I asked though I thought I kind of already knew and I placed a finger on it and she nodded. I passed the photo album to her.

"Are you sure? I feel like this is your project and I'm interrupting it and I know how I feel when that happens to me" she said.

"It is my project" I said "but the point of it is that people get to look back, remember and enjoy."

She accepted the photo album and opens it. It's the one from the summer where we retrieved the Golden Fleece and saved Thalia's tree and in turn Thalia. She smiled as she threaded through them there's probably a few she's not seen before as well, like her and Thalia laughing at the camp fire or Tyson and I having a water fight on the beach - I think Grover took that one.

I took out an empty album and started putting the ones in that I got printed earlier. I got about halfway through before Annabeth finishes the album she's looking at.

"These are great Percy" she said handing the album back to me.

"Want to see the rest?" I asked and I realised I'm actually really excited to show her these, and I'm really glad she likes them. I finished the album I'm on and grabbed the next one for Annabeth. Nightshade settled in the middle of us and together we spent the afternoon looking back on memories.

~~Author's Note~~

Thank you for reading. I've re-uploaded the previous chapter as I found a few errors when re-reading it. Apologies, that is has been a while since I posted, I had a few things to work through and it seems to have cured my writers block. I hope you enjoy this chapter please let me know what you think your feedback is greatly appreciated.

Perceus-Prior Thank you for your review I'm glad you like the story.

Happy reading all!