Ψ Percy's P.O.V Ψ
As the due date approached Annabeth was starting to look sicker and sicker. It wasn't just that she was tired all the time or that she had no energy when she was awake but she looked like she'd seen a ghost with how pale she was, and with her normally tanned complexion that was quite an achievement. But she insisted she was fine.
Today was no exception, I took breakfast into Annabeth and normally the smell of food was enough to bring her round, but not today. I tried to wake her but I couldn't, I started to panic her pulse felt weak when I checked it. I called Will immediately and by the time he arrived, I had finally managed to wake up Annabeth.
"Percy, you didn't need to call Will, I'm fine." She insisted again, the breakfast tray lying on the bed next to her, forgotten.
"No Annabeth, you're not, you're pulse is really weak, I couldn't wake you, I had to call him." I said fear gripping the pit of my stomach, my eyes stinging.
"Will, the babies are they okay?" She asked, and I could hear fear in her voice.
Once Will finished his examination he responded. "Yes, Annabeth they are fine, but this pregnancy is becoming too much for you, the twins are taking too much from you now, I'm going to have to induce you earlier than planned, as you refuse to take Ambrosia or Nectar to help you." He said.
"We don't know what it'll do to the babies, I won't risk it." Annabeth said once again.
"Annabeth," I said my heart feeling like it was being ripped in to two. "It's time" I said resting my forehead against hers.
"But we're only 37 weeks" She replied.
"I know" I whispered, "But, I'd rather they came early and you all lived than they came on time and we risked losing you." I said a tear fell down my cheek.
"Okay" She whispered so only I could hear her and she brushed the tear from my cheek.
If Will noticed the exchange he didn't say anything. I turned from Annabeth and nodded to Will.
"Right meet me at the hospital in the middle of the village and we'll start the process. I'll go ahead and make sure everything's ready." He said and departed almost as soon as he'd arrived.
We'd had the hospital bags packed for weeks so they were all ready to go all we had to do was get Annabeth to the car and drive to the hospital.
I ran around packing the car as quickly as I could and then went to get Annabeth.
"I can walk Percy" She said irritated with me helping her.
"I know you can Annabeth; I'm trying to reduce the amount your body has to do, just put all your weight on me as we go to the car." I said.
Ψ
Δ Annabeth's P.O.V Δ
I had to admit, I was scared. I knew I had been a bit more under the weather than normal, but I could still feel the twins moving around, so I assumed everything was fine, it hadn't occurred to me that because there was more than one baby, that my body potentially couldn't handle it.
After all Percy and I had been through, this was what my body couldn't handle. I found it kind of ironic, that it was something so normal that my body couldn't handle.
When we got the hospital Will hooked me up to all the monitors under the sun (no pun intended). I had two on my stomach, one for each baby that measured their heartbeats and their movements. Whenever I felt them move I had to push a button.
I had a monitor on my heart and index finger to make sure my blood pressure was okay as well.
Will put an IV in my left arm to get the nutrients into my body that I needed, and he put a second in right arm which he was going to use to induce me.
While Will was doing all of this Percy was typing on his phone at lightening speeds. The last thing he did was to send an Iris message to both my mom and his father. I knew because my mom appeared in my hospital room not a moment or so later.
"Mom" I said and even to myself I sounded scared.
"Shush" she replied "It's okay Annabeth, I know" she said in a comforting manner I'd never experienced from Athena before.
Percy took my hand and I squeezed it, he knew I was scared and I knew he was scared as well.
"Your dad's flying in now, Helen, Bobby and Matthew will be on the next red eye to New York. Mom, Paul and Estelle are on their way. Thalia is on her way, she said she'd be here in five minutes and Piper and Malcolm have Nightshade." Percy told me and it was reassuring to hear.
Will re-entered the room wearing golden yellow scrubs that matched his hair and a white lab coat. "Okay Annabeth, I'm going to inject the drug to induce you, it won't happen right away it could take a few hours before you're ready to give birth maybe more but this will start the process, if it takes too long or I feel you are at risk, we'll resort to a c-section but only if we have to, okay?" Will said.
I nodded, I had read up on what to expect when it was time to give birth but nothing could prepare me for how scared I felt.
I knew it would hurt, I wasn't worried about that, I was scared that I wouldn't make it through to see my babies once they were born, I was scared I wouldn't even know their names as Percy and I hadn't been able to agree on two names that we both liked yet.
"Percy their names" I whispered to him.
"We'll get to that Annabeth, there will be time after they're born, I promise." He said.
Δ
Ξ Piper's P.O.V Ξ
Percy had sent a text to the group to tell us all that Annabeth was being induced early three weeks early. I was worried for my friend, I didn't know what that meant, but I knew she and the twins would pull through, call it a gut feeling, if you will but I'd seen firsthand how strong Annabeth was, I knew she could handle this.
"Piper what if something's happened?" Malcolm said pacing the Aphrodite cabin.
"Malcolm calm down, you're going to wear a hole in the floor at this rate." I said putting a little charmspeak into my voice to sooth him.
"Malcolm if you're worried we can ask Lacy to watch Nightshade and we'll head to the hospital. But, I'm sure everything is okay and Percy will send a message when he can."
"You're right, you're right" He said sitting on my bunk, his head in his hands.
'Me too' I thought to myself.
Ξ
Ξ Thalia's P.O.V Ξ
Once I'd received Percy's message I got to the Greek Village as fast as I could after informing Lady Artemis of course.
Annabeth was hooked up to so many machines it took me off guard a little; I was just expecting her to be in a hospital bed waiting to give birth. She looked pale, paler than I'd ever seen her.
"Annabeth, Percy, what's going on" I said sitting on the opposite side to Athena next to Percy.
"Will's inducing her, but if he thinks it is necessary he's going to take her for a c-section." Percy said and he sounded scared, I've never heard Percy sound so scared not even when he thought Annabeth was taken hostage when they were 14.
"When do we know if it's necessary?" I asked as Annabeth's eyes closed and her blood pressure dropped, dangerously low.
"Annabeth!" Percy called "Come on Wise Girl open your eyes!" He said and tapped her face, as I ran to get Will.
I found him near the nurses' station.
"Will!" I panted "Annabeth, needs c-section"
Will took off running towards Annabeth's room and I followed him. He start unhooking IV bags and monitors and before I knew it Will and Percy were pushing the bed at speed toward the operating theatre.
Ξ
Ψ Percy's P.O.V Ψ
Will and I wheeled Annabeth into theatre and he injected her with an epidural in her spine to numb her from the chest down. I held Annabeth's hand the entire time, she was awake again now.
"I'm here Annabeth, I'm right here, you're doing such a great job" I said as Will made the incision in her stomach. "Will's performing a c-section" I said, stoking her hair touching my forehead to hers. I was beyond terrified right now.
Half an hour later and we heard a cry as Will took out the first baby, "It's a girl" he said passing her to the nurse, she was beautiful but we didn't have much time to look at her before Will said "It's a boy" as we heard a second cry. Will passed him to another nurse and we got to see our baby boy as well, both we're taken to be cleaned up and weighed as Will started to remove the placenta.
Ψ
It was all over within an hour and Annabeth did finally take some Nectar and Ambrosia from Will.
We were in recovery now with both of our babies, Annabeth looked great, both babies we're healthy. Annabeth was feeding them and she looked so beautiful doing it. My heart was swelling with the love I had for the three of them, I was so happy.
"Percy, what are we going to call them?" Annabeth asked and we'd not settled on a name we both agreed on yet but I'd been thinking while Will was operating.
"Do you think Thalia would mind if we called her Grace?" I asked Annabeth and she smiled at me.
"Grace, I like it, what about her middle name?" She asked.
"Selina" I said remembering that was one of the names Annabeth had liked, not just because it honoured our friend but also because it was Greek for Moon.
"Grace Selina Jackson" Annabeth said, "Its perfect" she smiled.
"What names do you think for our son?" I asked.
"Charles" She said, and I remember our friend as she said; "Charles William"
"Charles William Jackson, Charlie for short, Perfect" I said, Charles to honour our friend and William because Will had delivered him and saved his mom.
"Hey guys, Annabeth how are feeling?" Will said rejoining us.
"Feeling okay, I can move my toes now" She said, and Will nodded.
"That's good, we'll try getting you up and walking soon, normally, a mortal mom would take about a day to start getting up and about, but with nectar you should be up and about in a few hours as if nothing ever happened." He said.
"Thanks Will" I said seriously.
"Anytime" he said, "Shall we take you back up to the ward? There are a lot of people waiting to meet these two."
I looked at Annabeth and she nodded, we put the twins in their 'Baby Jackson' baby grows and took pictures of them together with their hats on before making our way back to the ward. The babies rested in Annabeth's arms as Will and I pushed the bed.
When we got to the room we were in there were a lot of people waiting for us, like Will had said. Thalia, Athena, Fredrick, my dad, my mom, Paul and Estelle were all present we arrived and they were all overjoyed to see that Annabeth was alright.
"So who have we got here?" my mom asked and Annabeth smiled at me and handed me Grace.
Placing Grace in my mom's arms I said "Born at 12:32, weighing 6lbs 4oz, meet your granddaughter Grace Selina Jackson."
"Grace?" Thalia asked "As in?"
"As in Thalia and Jason Grace" Annabeth replied smiling and a tear escaped Thalia's eye and she hurriedly brushed it away as if it never happened.
"You told me you weren't going to name your first born child after me" she said.
"I believe I said that there was only room for one Thalia" I said smiling at her, "You don't like it?" I asked her as my mom cooed over Grace.
"I love it" she said as I took Charlie from Annabeth and wandered over to her dad.
Placing Charlie in Fredrick's arms I said "Born at 12:34, weighing 6lbs 6oz, meet your grandson Charles William Jackson."
"William?" Will said questioningly, Annabeth answered him.
"They wouldn't be here without you Will, is that okay?" She asked.
"More than okay, I'm honoured" He replied, beaming from ear to ear in his golden yellow scrubs.
My mom passed Grace to my dad, and Fredrick passed Charlie to Athena. It was a little like watching baby pass-the-parcel as our twins were passed from grandparent to grandparent and then to Thalia and Will and eventually back to me and Annabeth.
Estelle wanted to hold them too so she sat on the end of the bed and I passed her Charlie and showed her how to hold his head, she held him for a little while before we swapped him for Grace for a few moments before taking them back. She probably only held them for about a minute each; but she was so gentle with them it made me smile.
After about half an hour they had all left us, Athena and dad had duties they had to attend too, Fredrick had to check into a hotel from him, Helen and the twins and also pick them up from the airport, mom, Paul and Estelle went back to our house to make sure everything was ready for when we got back even though we said they didn't need too. Thalia went to relieve Piper and Malcolm of Nightshade so that Malcolm could meet his niece and nephew, and Will went to complete his rounds on other patients promising to be back soon.
It wasn't long before our friends joined us. Piper and Malcolm were first to arrive, followed shortly by Clarisse and Chris, and then Nico, Rachel, Grover and Juniper arrived. We'd messaged Hazel, Frank and Reyna who said they'd visit as soon as they were able too. Leo and Calypso said they'd come by tomorrow.
"He looks just like you Percy" Piper said cooing over Charlie, he comment warmed my heart, Annabeth and I had joked a lot about who they would look.
"And this little one, looks just like Annabeth" Malcolm said affectionately cooing over Grace. I'd never seen this side to him and it really suited him.
I looked at Annabeth and saw her smiling too; I don't think we'd stopped smiling since we had first held our precious twins for the first time.
"What have you called them?" Piper asked relenting Charlie to Juniper.
"Charles William and Grace Selina" Annabeth replied.
"William?" Nico asked and I nodded, he groaned "Guys, he's never going to shut up about it, thanks a lot!" he said.
We all laughed at Nico's protest but we could all see he didn't really mean it as Malcolm handed Grace to him and he smiled at her.
"That explains that then" Piper said so quietly I almost didn't hear from beside Annabeth. "I'm really glad you're ok Annabeth, you gave us quite the scare" She added so everyone could hear.
"Sorry, unintentional I swear" My wife replied, it was like it was a long forgotten nightmare the way she brushed it off.
Ψ
Δ Annabeth's P.O.V Δ
Finally after an afternoon of sitting in a hospital bed we were home. Sally, Paul and Estelle hadn't stayed after they'd check to see if everything was ready, but they had restocked the kitchen which we were grateful for.
Percy and I sat on the sofa with Charlie and Grace sleeping in their Moses baskets beside us.
"You really scared me today" Percy said, playing with the fingers on my right hand.
"I know, I'm sorry" I replied.
"I love you" He said simply.
"I love you too" I said.
"Annabeth, you did such an amazing job, look at them, they're so beautiful" He said staring at our twins as they slept.
"Looks like Grace takes after her father" I teased as I gently wiped away the drool from our daughters face.
"Well you know what they say" He said.
"No, what do they say?" I asked curiously.
"If they look like one parent, they'll have the personality of the other" he whispered before leaning in to give me a kiss.
"I don't think we can count drooling as a personality trait" I said teasingly.
"Oh we can!" he protested quietly, "Besides if she gets to look as beautiful as you, she'll have to take after me in the personality department, it's only fair."
"Uh-huh" I said smiling.
Δ
Our first night at home was more trying than I thought it would be. Grace woke up four times for more milk and a nappy change, where as Charlie only woke up three times but they were never awake at the same time.
I think all in all I got ten minutes sleep possibly, I was exhausted. Percy looked a little better, I'd tried to get to each child before they work him up, I'm not sure how much sleep he got but it was a little more than me. After the scare I put him through yesterday, I thought it was the least I could do.
Percy made us breakfast and we sat and ate and then I fed the twins.
"Annabeth, you look exhausted, why don't you express some milk and I'll take the twins while you get a little sleep?" He asked.
"Percy I can't ask you to do that" I replied.
"You're not, I'm offering, besides I have two weeks of paternity leave before I have to go back to work at the aquarium, let me do this. We're a team, you don't have to do it all on your own." He said and if my love for him could increase anymore it did at that moment.
I did relent and go for some sleep while Percy looked after our twins, and as I fell asleep I couldn't help but think of our perfect family, and how I could wait to see the twins grow.
Δ
~Author's Note~
Hi all, Happy New Year!
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I was asked on a review of the last chapter how many chapters I think are left in this story and I've decided to make it a round 30. But please don't worry, I have other stories in the works and I have another on here that you can read in the mean time!
SarcasmRocks – Thank you for your review, I hope you liked this chapter! Please let me know what you thought! I'm glad you liked the dream and the baby shower!
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Guest Dec31st – Thank you for your review, I hope you liked this chapter! Please let me know what you thought! Yes I am going to continue it but as stated above it will be coming to an end soon.
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Happy reading all and stay safe!
