Malcolm's P.O.V

I had asked Piper if she wanted to meet up again this afternoon and I was really looking forward to it but I was also very nervous about it.

I had wanted to iris message Annabeth earlier that morning to try and settle my nerves but had decided not to. If anyone would know if it was a good plan she would especially as Piper was one of her best friends. That thought had made me even more nervous if that was possible. I had so much respect for Annabeth I didn't want to ruin our relationship either.

I had a couple of hours so I decided to head out to the Greek village to talk to Annabeth, try and settle my nerves. I knocked on the door and I was about to walk back to camp ready to cancel on this afternoon when Percy opened the door.

"Hey Malcolm, sorry we were out the back come in" he stepped to one side and let me into their home "you okay dude, you look like you're going to be sick" he said as I walked in and I thought that was a very apt description of how I felt.

"Is Annabeth home?" I asked him, trying not to sound too nervous.

"Sure she's in the garden with Thalia" he replied "I can" but I cut him off.

"Oh okay never mind" I said turning to leave but before I could Percy put a firm hand on my shoulder and directed me to the sofa and told me to wait so I did. I knew better than to disagree with Percy when he looked that determined.

Annabeth came in a few moments after he'd gone to get her.

"Malcolm" she greeted me with a hug and I hugged her back and sat down again nervously. Annabeth was my favourite sister, the one I had the most in common with; I really hoped she wouldn't hate me for wanting to see Piper. She sat next to me on the sofa before she asked "what's wrong?"

So I told her everything, all my worries about today and about ruining our relationship.

"Oh Malcolm" she said taking my hand and squeezing it "you and I always going to be you and I, even if you start dating Piper."

"So you're not mad? I mean she's one of your best friends" I asked

"She is, but she makes you happy Malcolm, how many times did we talk about Percy?" She asked me.

"That's not the same" I told her.

"Perhaps not, but this is what Piper has been trying to teach you. You need to trust your heart Malcolm, it won't always agree with your head. But, it's worth it" she told me and she gave me a knowing smile.

"But, mom would say intellect is the purest form of love"

"I know" she smiled at me "listen Malcolm" she took my hand drawing my eyes to hers "if being Piper makes you happy then you owe it to yourself to see where this path leads you. Just know that whatever you decide to do, I love you and I'll support you, just like you do for me."

"Thanks Annabeth" I said to her "I think, I'm ready for my date, at least I think it's a date" she smiled and nodded at me.

"I think it is too, I hope it goes well" she said and pulled me in for one final hug before letting I left to go back to my cabin to change.

Percy's P.O.V

I sat talking to Thalia while Annabeth talked to Malcolm and almost jumped out of my skin when my mother's voice sounded from behind me.

"Mom!" I said and Thalia was laughing at me rolling on the floor, which Nightshade thought was a new game and started running around trying to lick her face.

"Sorry hunny, I didn't mean to frighten you, I just wanted -"

"-to check in?" I finished for her; it was the longest she and Estelle had been apart since she mostly worked from home. "She's fine mom, she's just having a nap" I said and showed her the monitor.

"I knew she would be. I know we said tomorrow, but do you mind bringing her home tonight? You could stay for dinner?" She said and there was a pleading in her eyes and I realised it would be selfish to refuse my mom's request just because I wanted time with Estelle.

"I'll bring her home mom, but I can't stay for dinner, we have Thalia over and we have Nightshade of course."

"Everyone's welcome" my mom said like it was no big deal adding three extra places to the table. I was about to say don't worry when Annabeth's voice sounded from behind me.

"That would be lovely, Sally thank you. Once Estelle wakes from her nap we'll set off in the car, we should be with you for maybe 3pm." She said placing her hand in mine and lacing our fingers.

"Great, we'll see you then" my mom said and then swiped her hand through the image her end disconnecting us.

"Sweet!" Thalia said "a night with Nightshade and Sally's cooking? Result!"

"Hey!" I protested "what's wrong with my cooking?!" I was a little offended.

"Nothing Seaweed Brain" Annabeth responded "but, you know how good your mom's is" I sighed and nodded, I had to concede I knew my mother's cooking was amazing and I was quite looking forward to this evening as well.

We headed inside to start packing up Estelle's things and prepare Nightshade's food to take with us when I remembered that Annabeth had been speaking to Malcolm.

"How's Malcolm? Everything sorted?" I asked.

"Yes, he's fine just needed a little reassurance" she smiled at Thalia who gave her a knowing smile back and I knew I was missing something but thought perhaps on this occasion it was best not to ask, so I changed the subject.

"So, Pinecone face, are you only visiting to see the dog or do you actually like our company" I teased Thalia, she scrunched up her face like she was actually having to think about it.

"Mostly the dog and Annabeth but I suppose you're ok too Kelp Head." She retorted and I rolled my eyes at her. Annabeth laughed, we were quickly falling into our old rhythm. I was about to respond when Estelle's cry came over the monitor.

I went upstairs to get Estelle and noticed she was crying when I got there. I picked her up out of the cot and sat on the spare bed with her in my arms.

"What's wrong little star? Did you have a bad dream?" I asked and she nodded, I sat rubbing her back before saying "shush it's okay, it was only a dream, and your dreams can't hurt you." Now, if she had been a half-blood that would have been a total lie but, Estelle was 100% mortal. She nodded and brought her hands to her face to wipe the tears away.

"Hey, we're getting ready to take you home, I bet mom will have blue cookies" I said trying to cheer her up and it seemed to work. Mom had carried on our blue food tradition with Estelle, I think she loved blue cookies almost as much as I did and that was saying something. I put Estelle down as I packed up the travel cot and her overnight bag.

I picked up the bags and held my hand out for Estelle who took my hand and we walked downstairs, albeit very slowly, together. Annabeth had gone and pulled the car around while I had gone to get Estelle. I put all of Estelle's things on the back seat and put Nightshade in the boot on her bed. I was originally going to put her in her cage to travel because I thought it was safer but Thalia looked like she was going to run me through with her hunter's daggers for even thinking it, so I thought better of it. I guess as long as she settled in the boot of the car she would be okay.

Thalia got in the front next to Annabeth and I squeezed myself into the middle seat next to Estelle whom Annabeth had placed in her car seat. I'm not going to lie, I was uncomfortable but it wouldn't take that long to get into the city so I didn't say anything.

As we set off I could tell Estelle was still tired and I asked Thalia to turn on the CD option for the car radio, we had a Disney disc in, Estelle was a huge Disney fan. I was about to sing along but realised I didn't need to, Estelle was so tied still that just the sound of the familiar song playing was enough to get her to drift back off to sleep.

The car ride took about forty minutes in total and for the most part it was silent and I was left to my own thoughts. I thought about the wedding and all the plans Annabeth had already put in place. I thought about standing in front of all our friends and family and declaring my love for her. I thought about how beautiful she was going to look, not that she didn't always look beautiful, she did, but just the image of her walking towards me in a white dress. I could feel the heat on my face just at the thought and I didn't even know what her dress would look like.

Something about it being bad luck and I thought we'd had enough of that to last us a life time. So when she told me I couldn't see the design or the dress until our wedding day I accepted it. My mom had mentioned something about it being bad luck when she married Paul, but I clearly hadn't been paying that much attention then.

I thought about whom I was going to have as my groomsmen, Grover as my best man obviously; Frank, Malcolm and I thought maybe I'd see what Annabeth thought about asking Bobby and Matthew.

Her relationship with them was so strong now, I was really proud of her for how far her relationship with them had come. I started to wonder who Annabeth would ask to be in her bridal party. Thalia obviously; Piper, Hazel and maybe one of her siblings from the Athena cabin? I guess I wasn't really sure but we'd probably talk about it soon. In just over two months I was marrying my Wise Girl and I couldn't be happier at the thought.

Annabeth's P.O.V

I parked the car in the parking garage under Sally and Paul's apartment building. I'd been glancing at Percy in the rear view mirror periodically on the ride over. He had been so deep in thought occasionally blushing and smiling to himself. I wondered what he had been thinking about and I decided I would ask after dinner.

Estelle woke up as Percy got her out of her car seat. He tried to put her down so she could walk herself but as soon as her feet touched the floor she shook her head and called "up" and because she had my beloved Seaweed Brain wrapped around her little finger he dutifully picked her back up again. He also took all of the bags leaving me and Thalia with only Nightshade to take up to the apartment. Thalia happily obliged in carrying my puppy, I didn't mind overly at getting a free pass on carrying but I offered to take some of the bags Percy had anyway and he shook his head in response.

"Don't worry Wise Girl, I've got it" he said smiling at me.

"Okay" I said and we took the stairs up to the fifth floor.

"There's a lift y'know?!" Thalia said and I looked at her and she added "right, I forgot sorry!"

"It's okay" I said as we continued up the stairs, ever since Percy and I had returned from Tartarus in a 12 minute lift ride that depended on other people pressing buttons to let us out, we'd avoided using lifts where possible. I wouldn't say we were afraid of them but even two years later, the closing of the doors brought back awful flashbacks and a desire to hold the doors closed all the up or down in a lift. It was one of the many reasons Percy had fought for me to be able to fly Blackjack back and forth during the reconstruction of Olympus. But, even we had conceded for the opening that it was better to travel up in the lift of the Empire State Building. I shook my head trying to clear the thoughts of Tartarus from my head so I didn't have a flashback. It had been months since my last one and I didn't want to break the cycle.

Sally opened the door before Percy had even managed to knock.

"Percy! Estelle!" She exclaimed excitedly and pulled them into an awkward three way hug and Percy had to drop the bags, to even try and make an attempt at hugging his mom back.

She let go and Percy put Estelle down who immediately ran off into the apartment. Sally turned to me and Thalia and greeted us both with a hug.

"And you must be Nightshade" she said patting Nightshade's head who's tail was wagging in approval. Percy had gone to unpack Estelle's things leaving us with Sally in the lounge.

"Did you manage to get much work done Sally?" I asked taking a seat on the sofa while Thalia had settled into an arm chair in the corner with Nightshade.

"I did, but I missed Estelle much more than I had anticipated" she replied looking wistfully towards the bedroom door where Percy and Estelle were unpacking her things. Well Percy was unpacking; I assumed Estelle was playing with her toys.

"That's understandable" I replied and offered her what I hoped was a kind smile.

"Totally" Thalia agreed looking at Nightshade.

"Still my puppy Thals" I reminded her playfully.

"Yeah, yeah" she replied just as playfully, Sally smiled at me almost nervously.

"Do you think Percy understands?" She asked and I knew she was concerned that the son she adored wouldn't understand her concerns. Before I could respond, Percy did.

"I get it mom, don't worry" he said and placed a kiss on her cheek "I wouldn't say you worried about me less, but I had something Estelle doesn't. It's a different kind of worry but also a more normal and unfamiliar kind." He said and it occurred to me that my future husband could be very wise. Sally seemed reassured by his words and thanked him.

"How very wise of you Seaweed Brain" I said and he smiled back at me that cute lopsided grin he always gave me and my heart started racing in my chest. Percy had always played down how intelligent he was, don't get me wrong there were often times when we were younger when it seemed like there was nothing but seaweed in his head but he has always been clever, when he wanted to be. I noticed I was staring at his beautiful sea green eyes and he was staring at mine, we were having one of our silent conversations. I really loved that we could do that, that just by looking at each other we knew what the other was thinking.

"Stop doing that lovey dovey thing you do" Thalia said breaking our chain of thought.

Percy laughed and took a seat next to me and his mom just smiled knowingly at us.

"Like you don't stare at Nightshade in the same way" Percy teased her.

"Have you seen her?" Thalia said lifting Nightshade so everyone could see just how cute she was. "She's cuter than you Kelp Head" Percy just laughed in response but he didn't comment. He knew better than to start an argument in his mother's home.

"Mom!" Estelle called running over to her with her stuffed hellhound toy. It was her favourite and looked just like Mrs O'Leary, Percy's hellhound. We hadn't seen her in a while, Nico had asked to borrow her for something but I knew we'd see her again soon. Estelle climbed into Sally's lap and gave her a hug before she started telling her in her own still quite limited way about her morning at the beach.

Percy cut in to help that earned him a couple of annoyed looks from Estelle which made both Thalia and I laugh.

Sally's P.O.V

I knew it was silly of me to worry so much about my daughter being away from me. Especially, as she was in her brothers very capable hands but I couldn't help it.

Over the past couple of years I had watched as Percy and Estelle had bonded and I knew how much he loved her and in turn how much she loved him. I could hear them talking in the stairwell so I opened the front door. There stood my beautiful not so little boy, his jet black hair and seas green eyes just like his father's. He was so tall now, standing at 6"1, with a golden brown tan, his strong arm wrapped around his sister, the other holding four or five bags. Next to him stood Annabeth his beautiful strong willed fiancée. I had thought of Annabeth as a daughter for such a long time now that it just seemed like such a natural outcome that they would get married. Most parents would think their son getting married at nineteen (almost twenty) was a mistake. But, the two of them had been through so much more than they should have had too at their age, so much more than I had ever wanted them to go through. It didn't seem wrong or out of place to me at all, it seemed right.

And, then lastly but by certainly no means least stood Thalia, Percy's cousin on his father's side, a beautiful girl, with a very strong personality and a soft spot for animals. The latter only proven more by the fact she was holding a puppy that I assumed was Nightshade. Percy had told me about his plan to get Annabeth the Doberman puppy and it warmed my heart when he'd told me why.

Once we had settled in the lounge and everyone had a drink we started talking about their morning on the beach. It certainly seemed like Estelle had enjoyed, I looked at my son knowing how much his powers could drain his energy. He sat hand in hand with Annabeth looking very content and gave me a smile as he noticed me looking at him, as if to say I'm fine mom don't worry.

But even he knew I'd always worry about him. But, I knew he was in good hands with Annabeth at the Greek village. I remembered the day he had moved out to move in with Annabeth. I hadn't felt ready, he'd not long come back after being missing for so long it had been almost a year for me without knowing how he was. He had insisted on taking every single thing and getting Paul to scrub down the walls and the floor. I knew why, he wanted to remove his scent so Estelle would be safe. Slowly, he'd let Annabeth convince him that the apartment had always been safe and had decided not to insist on such drastic measures. Besides I would always make sure he had a room with us, it still looks very much like it had when he lived here except much cleaner.

I was pulled out of my thoughts of another time by Paul arriving home from his teacher training day.

Percy's P.O.V

Paul got home at about half four and greeted my mom by giving her a kiss and his daughter by kissing her forehead and giving her a hug.

We stood to greet Paul he gave us all a hug, he kissed Annabeth's cheek in a very fatherly way, but knew better than to try with Thalia so just settled for a hug from her.

"How was it Paul?" My mom asked standing now, ready to go and make dinner.

"It was fine, same as always" Paul replied "can I help with dinner?" He asked her before anyone else had the chance and they headed off to the kitchen.

Estelle was lying on the floor with her hellhound toy that I had given to her when she was a baby; she was making it run around a bit like Nightshade did at home.

I looked over at Nightshade who sat curled up in Thalia's lap sleeping. She was exhausted bless her she'd done too much exercise really for how young she was but I'd make sure she had an easier day tomorrow while Annabeth finished her project in the study. A lazy day with Nightshade that would be nice, I thought to myself as I was still feeling a little tired from this morning's antics but I'd do it all over again. What? She's my little sister; I'd do anything for her.

I looked around the apartment, at my cousin, my sister, my future wife and my parents and I knew I was lucky to have them all. It was the last thought I had before I allowed myself to drift off to sleep holding Annabeth close to me.

~~ Sometime later ~~

I wasn't sure what time it was and I wasn't even totally awake but I was aware of people around me talking.

"Should we wake them?" A voice that sounded like Paul's asked.

"No let them sleep" my mom's voice came next.

"I'll eat Percy's portion" Thalia's voice chimed.

"Don't you dare" I managed to grumble, it took a few tries but I opened my eyes, they were a bit hazy from sleep but I managed to eye Thalia and let her know I was serious. I looked down at Annabeth she was asleep, her chest rising and falling in time with my own, her head resting on my chest. I could smell the familiar lemon scented shampoo that she used. "Is it ready?" I asked my mom and I could tell that she knew what I was really asking was should I wake Annabeth.

"It will be in about twenty minutes" she said to me and I thought Annabeth would appreciate the time to come to before dinner so I woke her.

"Almost time for dinner, Wise Girl" I whispered as I woke her. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked up at me and gave me quick kiss before remembering we were in my mom's apartment.

"Sorry, I didn't intend to fall asleep" she said looking at my mom. "Can I help set the table or something?" She asked and my mom smiled at her almost adoringly.

"Thank you Annabeth" she said by way of accepting her help.

"I'll help" Thalia said setting Nightshade down for the first time I was aware of in the chair she had just vacated. Nightshade was still snoring softly.

Estelle came up to me, we were the only ones left in the lounge.

"Fanks Pwcy" she said and gave me a hug, I smiled even though I wasn't sure what I was being thanked for.

"You're welcome little star" I said to her and hugged her back. I really loved being a big brother. I got up from the sofa and offered Estelle my hand which she took and we walked into the kitchen hand in hand. The smell that was coming from the food my mom had made was incredible.

She'd done a full roast chicken dinner with all the trimmings. Gods, I thought, mom's homemade chicken dinner was there anything better? Y'know that wasn't blue I mean. There was also a smell of blue cookies cooling for desert, my mouth watered in anticipation.

I put Estelle in her highchair next to me; Estelle was also having chicken dinner. I loaded up her plate and began chopping it up automatically and I felt eyes watching me.

My mom and Paul looked at me proudly and Annabeth looked at me like she had at breakfast. I realised she said she'd tell me what that look meant later and we hadn't had the chance to talk about it yet. Thalia was the only one who wasn't watching me in favour of piling up the food on her own plate, I had to respect that.

"What?" I asked but as usual no one answered my question. My mom smiled at me knowingly though I'm not sure what I was supposed to know, Paul seemed to come to a silent realisation he didn't share and Annabeth kissed me on the cheek.

I shrugged and carried on chopping Estelle's food and piled food up on my own plate. Paul lit the brazier in the middle of the island and Annabeth, Thalia and I scraped an offering to burn before settling back down to eat.

I placed Estelle's plate in front of her and handed her the fork like I had earlier that day.

"Percy, that doesn't-" Paul started realising that I'd put gravy on his daughter's plate but I knew she could handle it.

"It's okay, little star knows what to do" I said looking at my sister showing her once again how I held my fork before I started eating. Estelle smiled and spiked a piece of chicken on her fork and put it in her mouth. Annabeth's hand found my free one and squeezed it affectionately, before she went back to her own meal.

"I've been trying for days to get her to do that" Paul said looking a little disgruntled but mostly proud that she was using her fork.

"Well the first attempt wasn't too successful was it little star?" I said smiling and Annabeth looked at me confused.

"What do mean? Yes it was" she said and I shook my head and recounted the story of the last night's chicken nuggets and chips with ketchup, in which ketchup had ended up everywhere! By the time I finished, everyone was laughing.

Once we'd finished dinner I offered to clear and do the dishes before we had blue cookies.

Annabeth's P.O.V

Thalia leaned over while Percy did the dishes and said to me "I didn't know Kelp Head knew how to do the dishes without using his powers."

"He always does the dishes manually" I replied. I thought about it and I'd put money on the fact that it probably hadn't occurred to Percy to try using his control of water to clean the dishes.

"Well that seems like a waste" she said, rolling her eyes and I chuckled. Thalia had always been a little jealous of the amount of power Percy had and I understood that. Percy had the power to manipulate water, create hurricanes, to use water to heal him; and he even, although he had promised never to do it again after the incident in Tartarus, had the ability to manipulate any liquid. I shook the thought of Tartarus from my head again, at this rate I was not going to sleep well tonight. Thalia had her own powers though, she could summon lightning and I bet if she wasn't so afraid of heights she would also be able to summon the winds to make her fly, I wondered if it was something Piper and I could help her over come. She might not have the same power as Jason but something made me think she might.

"Thank you for dinner Sally" Thalia said.

"Of course dear, you're welcome anytime, you know that" Sally replied and smiled at her warmly. I tried to concentrate on the conversation Thalia, Sally and Paul were having, but found I couldn't. I looked over at Percy and watched as he did the dishes with ease. My thoughts wandering back to the pictures I had drawn of how he had imagined our children would look one day. I imagined us all sitting around the dining room table with our parents and siblings at Christmas. I thought about how having Percy in my life had changed how I saw events like Christmas once I had started going home to spend it with my dad, step mother and brothers. How much I had come to appreciate and enjoy those family moments. Moments that we would pass on to our own children I thought.

"Annabeth?" A hand waved in front of my face, it was Thalia's, bring me back to the present. "Paul asked you a question" she told me and I blushed furiously, I could feel my cheeks burning as I forced myself to look away from Percy.

"Sorry Paul, could you repeat the question?" I asked and he smiled at me knowingly, as if he knew or at least had an inkling of what I had been thinking about.

"I asked how the plans were going for the wedding." He repeated.

"There certainly going" I replied "there seems to be so many things to do but we're doing them together like we always do" I smiled and then added in my head 'like we always will.'

"Well I hope there's at least one thing you aren't doing together?" Sally asked and I knew she meant my dress and I nodded.

"Yes, there is one thing Percy isn't helping with for traditional reasons." I said and I was looking forward to weaving my dress tomorrow with my mother and Lady Aphrodite. I wasn't sure what Percy's plans were for the time we were going to be apart. Sally raised a questioning eyebrow at me and I took the folded sketch from my pocket and handed it to her. She picked it up and placed it in her pocket and smiled at me.

"So... what did I miss?" Percy asked setting the plate of cookies down in the middle of the table. He handed one to Estelle before taking one for himself.

"Not much" Paul told him picking up a cookie for himself.

Thalia's P.O.V

Dinner at Sally and Paul's was great; they always made me feel like I was a part of their family. Just like they did for all half-bloods and even my hunters, if we ever needed to drop in for a rest. There weren't many places to set up camp for the night on the Upper East Side. Sally and Paul had graciously extended their hospitality to us as well as the campers and I did feel like a member of their family.

Percy had put Estelle to bed and Sally had taken that opportunity to look at the paper Annabeth had given her during dinner. I knew it was of her wedding dress we'd discussed it a lot in recent weeks, I hoped she'd gone with what she wanted and not settled for something else. Nightshade had eaten her dinner and pretty much gone straight back to sleep in my lap. I didn't mind, this little cutie could use me as a pillow as much as she liked. Since joining the hunt I had a new appreciation for animals, okay so new might not be the right word, a better appreciation for animals. I had appreciated animals before but most of the ones I had come into contact with prior to the hunt were either monsters or mythological. During my time in the hunt so far I had gathered an appreciation for mortal creatures and their circle of life. I guess that's why I liked Nightshade so much, she reminded me of that.

Percy met Annabeth and I at the car, he'd had to speak to Paul about something.

"All sorted?" Annabeth asked him as we got in the car.

"Yes" he said kissing her cheek before climbing in the back again so Annabeth and I could sit up front and talk. Kelp Head always the gentleman I thought. We'd barely set off on our way back to the village when Annabeth noticed he had fallen asleep.

"He's worn out" she said glancing in the rear view mirror at him.

"I'm not surprised; he used a lot of power this morning and barely napped at Sally and Paul's. Star sure keeps him on his toes." I replied looking at my friend who was smiling like an idiot. "So... are you going to tell me which part of Percy land you went to during dinner?" I asked teasingly she blushed again.

"I was just thinking about something that we've been talking about quite a bit at the moment" she said carefully and I wonder if it's because she thought I'd disapprove.

"Children" I stated, because I didn't think it could be anything else.

"Yes" she admitted and glanced back at Percy again smiling at him as and her cheeks flushed a deeper red than they already were. I could tell she really wanted this.

"You don't think one Kelp Head is enough in the world?" I teased her.

"There's only one Percy Jackson" she told me "but, a son that looks like him running around the house would be perfect." She said sounding very dreamy and I don't think I'd ever heard my best friend and sort of little sister sound so girly.

"Wow, you really want this don't you?" I asked.

"Yeah, I do" she admitted "I'm not even sure when I started to want it, maybe when the giant war ended and the dreams stopped being so bad" she said sounding almost dejected.

"Hey, you're allowed to want this" I said "I'm not going to lie and say I understand what you're feeling because I think we both know I don't. And the thought of you and Kelp Head being parents before today, I'll admit it was an odd thought. But, Piper and I saw you and Percy with Star today and you looked like a little family, I can see it now." I honestly meant that.

"Thanks Thals, Percy seems to have it all figured out, what if I'm not a good mom? What if I don't know what I'm doing?" She started voicing her fears.

"Annie you're not listening to me. The three of you looked like a family, not just Percy and Star but you as well. When the time comes you'll be a great mom, I know you will you can see it when you're with Star. Percy only looks like he has things figured out because he has you." She smiled at me.

"Thanks Thals, I don't know what's going on with me today; my thoughts keep going back to the pit and my thoughts are all jumbled maybe it's just wedding stress?" I frowned I didn't like that thoughts of the pit were in her head again. Something else had to be going on but I couldn't figure it.

Percy's P.O.V

Annabeth woke me when we got home. Thalia and Nightshade has already gone inside. My thoughts had been really jumbled today and I didn't really understand why. My father's voice sounded in my head "prepare yourself" that's all he said.

"Annabeth" I stopped her before we entered the house "have you heard from your mom today? Like, in your head or your dreams?" I asked.

"Yes" she replied and she scrunched her face like she always did when she was trying to figure something out.

"Did she tell you to prepare yourself?" I asked her.

"Yeah, what do you think it means?" She asked me and I didn't know.

"I don't know, but whatever it is I think it's going to happen tonight." I said to her and she agreed with me.

We asked Thalia if she was able to stay with Nightshade tonight, I couldn't explain it but whatever my father was warning me about I knew it was going to happen tonight.

It happened sooner than I thought; we were in the lounge one minute and then the next thing I knew we were stood in front of the Goddess Hera.

"Welcome, Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase" she said in an uncharacteristically nice way. I looked around and all I could see was white for as far as I could see. Where in Gods names had she brought us? I looked at Annabeth and laced my fingers through hers before responding.

"Queen Hera, where are we?" I asked her.

"You are nowhere, I have brought you here to prove to me that you are deserving of my blessing on your marriage." She replied and all I could think was 'is she serious?!' I squeezed Annabeth's hand.

"What is it that we have to do?" I asked the queen of the Gods, as nicely as I could because I really didn't want her to curse our marriage.

"I am going to place you into a scenario where you are mortal, and you will learn the meaning of marriage. Once you know the meaning of marriage you will have passed my test and earned my blessing." I looked at Annabeth and I didn't need to do this scenario to know what marriage was and as I looked at her I knew Annabeth knew too.

"But, we know the meaning of marriage" I responded.

"How could you possibly know the meaning of marriage if you have not experienced it?" She asked us, Annabeth answered.

"But, we have experienced it; we've seen it through our mortal families." She told the Goddess. Queen Hera considered this.

"Very well, tell me then what the meaning of marriage is." She said and then looked at Annabeth and added "do not give me a dictionary definition either."

I looked at Annabeth and I could tell she was resisting the urge to roll eyes at Queen Hera. We both knew we had to pass this trial, if you could even call it that, if we wanted her to bless our marriage. We weren't Queen Hera's biggest fans anyone could tell you that but at the same time we knew insulting her this time was not the smart plan, even if we did want to.

Annabeth squeezed my hand, normally this was the sort of thing she would answer, but I felt like the answer was burning inside me and I got the impression she knew that. I briefly wondered if that's how Annabeth had felt all her life when she had the answer to a question. I shook the thought from my head and looked at the Queen of the Gods.

"Marriage is a partnership" I started and looked at Annabeth "marriage is commitment, a promise, that no matter what life throws at us, we'll face it together." Annabeth smiled at me before she continued.

"That, even in the darkest of times, we can work through to the light again. It's about supporting each other and never giving up on each other." I smiled at Annabeth, had I mentioned how much I love her recently?

"Its trust" I added "trusting your partner to understand you and help you at your lowest points and trusting them to support you at your highest ones." Annabeth was beaming at me. "And, it is about love, love is the foundation for which a marriage is built on."

"Trust, love and understanding" Annabeth said "Trust that love is enough, understanding that it will take hard work on both sides..."

"And, patience, recognition and belief" I added "Patience for your partner and yourself, recognising when to step up and also when to step back, and having the belief that your partner will do the same." I had more to say but I got the distinct feeling we were being watched by more than just Queen Hera.