In the summer, Danny and Katie decided not to go to Camp Half-Blood, wanting to not exert themselves with physical activity when two children were on the way. Less stress means a healthier baby, and a healthier baby means a baby that will hopefully survive to adulthood, even though infant mortality was ten times higher than regular mortals due to their smell. But Danny and Katie were experienced, monster-slaying adults and they could handle nearly anything thrown at them.

May turned into June, June turned to July, and finally June turned to August. Now that she was expecting at anytime that month, the two were really tense. In a weird way, Katie's mood swings would rub off on Danny and he would get angry for no reason, but Katie knew he didn't mean it, but it still kind of hurt though. One time it was Danny who caught a spell of morning sickness instead of her.

Either way, Katie's stomach kep growing and growing until she had a well rounded belly for the two kids. And this new addition to weight meant swollen feet, back problems, and a lot of shuffling around.

"Why is it I can handle the toughtest monsters in Greek mythology, but I can't even handle walking to the bathroom every twenty minutes?" she said one day as she had returned from her tenth time on the toilet that day.

"Don't know," said Danny.

"And why is it during pregnancy that the men get the fun parts?" said Katie, sitting on the couch next to him. Danny knew better than to ask him that. It was like the voices of his ancestors were telling him not to say a word.

"Either way, are you happy?" said Danny.

"Yes, but all I wish for is for my back to stop hurting, it's so sore," said Katie.

"I can give you a back massage," said Danny.

"Thanks, that'll hit the spot.

"Then I'll rub your feet," said Danny.

"Now you're talking," said Katie.

"And then rub your belly and caress your neck," said Danny.

"I really like where this is going," said Katie.

"And after that..who knows?" said Danny.

"You sure you want to have sex with a girl who is about to expect anyday now?" said Katie.

"On second thought, the second two were good choices. I would have nightmares if we were doing it and the babies came," said Danny.

"Exactly," said Katie.

"Well, I can still do this though," he said. He leaned forward swiftly and crushed his lips on hers, pulling her ontop of him. She was so taken aback at this that when he ended it, she looked dazed, and completely passion-minded.

"You still know how to get me," said Katie.

"Always have, always will," said Danny.


The days in August melted down to the last week. They knew that if she passed the last day, she would be overdue. But so far, the only person more nervous than them was Ms. Sky, and Gaia. Ms. Sky was nerous because she was going to be a grandmother at the age of 38, and Gaia was nervous because it would be her first grandchildren born to a demigod. Everything was riding on stake.

If Katie seemed moody and depressed in the final months of pregnancy, then she was downright nasty in the last month. Everything just pissed her off, even Danny, and she was always grumpy at random times in the day. Danny's plan was to avoid her when she was having her mood swings by traveling a state away, or farther. He would show up when he felt like she was done. And the worse part was, when she was grumpy, he was too. At least when the babies were now firmly established at the bottom of her belly did the craziness come to an end, sort of.

The last week of August approached swiftly. Now they were on edge. Anyday now, the babies would come. Danny was especially nervous. He got so nervous that he actually starting reading a book on parenting. Katie was on edge too. In a few minutes, few hours, a few days, she would be a mother. A seventeen year old mother. At least she had the one person in the world she needed right by her side. As they waited, the week slipped by till the might before the last day of August. Now they were worried that she might be overdue and something was wrong.

That night, as they lay in bed together, Danny and her talked awhile.

"Will go to the hospital if they don't arrive tomorrow," he said.

"I was thinking the same thing. I really hope nothing is wrong," said Katie.

"Let's get some sleep," said Danny. She rolled to her side facing him while he faced her, his arm protectively around her.


At 3:00 in the morning, Katie woke up in an instance. She felt like she had just peed in the bed.

"But I couldn't have, I have bladder control," she thought. But she knew she was pregnant, so anything could have happened. She peered under the covers to see if there was anything wrong. She saw a pool of some kind of water on the sheets. She felt it. It was warm, but it wasn't pee. Then something weird happened. She felt pain shoot up from her vaginal area to her belly as if it was contracting. She knew exactly what it meant.

She turned back to Danny and shook him vigorously.

"Danny, wake up," she said. Danny lightly groaned and opened his eyes.

"Danny, my water broke," she said. But he must have been really tired because he said, "Okay, I'll go get you some water." Katie groaned and felt another contraction. She gave a loud yell and held Danny's hand, squeezing it.

"No, my water broke!" she said. Danny's eyes snapped to their fullest and he got up and hurriedly threw some clothes on while Katie fought the pain of her contraction. He picked her up gently and hurried out of the house. Once outside, well you all know what he did, and went to the demigod hospital.


"Asclepius!" yelled Danny once they got into the hospital. The god of healing, doctors, and etc. shimmered in front of them with the smell of a hospital: clean floors, the metal of syringes, the smell of anesthesia, all in one.

"Yes, what can I do for you?" he said, his voice sounding like he came straight out of Greece itself.

"She's giving birth," said Danny. Asclepius clapped his hands and his helpers, two female minor goddesses, came and helped Katie onto an operating table. Danny was alongside her, comforting her and giving her moral support.

"Don't worry, it'll be fine. I'm going to stay with you the whole time," he told her. She smiled and thanked him. In the operating room, Asclepius got straight to work. He got the bed to magically lift up the top half so that Katie was in a leaned back sitting position. A pillow was placed on her head to comfort her head and her legs were opened up.

"Danny, quick, Iris-message everyone," said Katie. Danny nodded and hurried out the room to find a fountain. Finding he got a glass pyramid out of his pocket and reflected the light to make a rainbow that shot clear into the fountain. Luckily the hospital gave complimentary drachmas. Pulling out a fistful he threw one into the fountain.

"O goddess, accept my offering," said Danny. It disappeared in a golden shimmer. Danny thought he should tell Katie's mom, then his, then Percy and Annabeth.

"Sarah Sky at 143 McClellan Lane," said Danny. The image shimmered until he saw Ms. Sky's dozing form in her bed.

"Ms. Sky!" yelled Danny. She jumped out of bed from fright and turned, startled, to see Danny's face in the middle of her room from the Iris message.

"Danny? What is it?" she asked.

"Katie's having the babies now!" said Danny. Ms. Sky eyes widened fast and she bolted to her dressing room to get some clothes on.

"Same hospital?"

"Yes, the demigod one," said Danny. The message ended and he threw in another drachma, but then remembered he could summon his mom another way/ He sat on the ground and chanted words older the Greek, and even older than Mycenean and Minoan. The language of the gods flowed from his mouth into the ground. The ground erupted at his feet and his mom stood there, proud and elegant, and a little tired. Of course she was the earth and she rotated around with the sun, but since the gods had moved to America, that was part she was more focused on, which meant she was probably sleeping before Apollo got the sun over America.

"Yes Daniel," she said, stifling a yawn.

"Your grand kids are on the way mom," said Danny. Her hand went to her mouth to stifle her shriek.

"Really, how soon?" she asked.

"She started about a few minutes ago so I think in the morning," said Danny. Gaia nodded, hugged him, and went to take her seat in the lobby. Danny remembered that he had put a drachma in the fountain and all he had to say was who he needed to contact. Then, he thought of an idea. If Iris could do a message at a time, what if he tried multiple contacts. He threw in three more drachmas and gave it a shot. He would have used the last one, but he thought that would have been pushing it.

"Michelle Lynn at 62 Tammany Drive, Jamal Jarredson at 643 Long Island Avenue, Ryan Williams at 120 Granger Street, and Fred Christian at 411 Mercury Drive," said Danny, praying that it would work. Apparently Iris must have upgraded because in no time, four shimmering images of the four people came up. Jamal was snoring loudly in bed, Fred was on XBOX Live 2.0 playing what sounded like Modern Warfare 4, Ryan was sound asleep too, but Michelle was another story. What he saw was something he shouldn't be seeing. Michelle was having sex with Brent, and she was riding him.

Danny debated whether to say something or not, but a loud scream from Katie snapped him back to his senses.

"Guys!" he yelled. Everyone in the images woke up or stopped what they were doing, Michelle and Brent looking flustered.

"Katie's having the baby," said Danny. At once they all went for the clothes or towards their cars if they already had on clothes. Danny ended those four Iris messages and put in the last coin.

"Percy and Annabeth Jackson at 212 Neptune Way," said Danny. The image shimmered to see Percy and Annabeth, fast asleep. He wondered whether Seth was asleep in their room or another one.

"Annaebth, Percy," he whispered. They stirred. but really nothing.

"Guys, please wake up," said Danny a little louder. Percy gave a grunt, but otherwise didn't do anything.

"Wake up!" yelled Danny, finally losing his patience. Annabeth and Percy snapped awake when he yelled.

"She's having the babies," said Danny. They did the same eye widening thing everyone else did and went to get there clothes and get Seth. Finally done with the Iris messages Danny ran back to the room with Katie.

Her contractions were hitting harder, but they all knew it would be sometime until the babies came out, and it would be like one birth after the other.

"Danny, stay with me," she pleaded.

"I will, always," said Danny.


The long hours dragged on, her contractions hitting harder and harder. Katie felt like she was ready to split in half.

"Keep the contractions flowing smoothly," said the minor goddess nurses.

"Your doing fine Kate, keep it up," said Danny.

"Easy for you to say, you never have to go through this," said Katie, half-talking, half-yelling. And this was just the start of her hormones taking the best of her. Thankfully Percy had instructed him about this and to not take any of her threats seriously. However, just because they weren't taken seriously didn't mean that they didn't hurt. Katie asked for some water so Danny went to get some. Along the way back he heard a very loud scream from her.

"If you see Danny, tell him I'm going to tear his FUCKIN' HEAD OFF!" he heard her scream. Danny had to take a step back and think if he wanted to go back in there or not. Thankfully, his loving side took over from his scared one and he went in.

"Danny, I will never sleep with you again! As long as I live!" she yelled. Danny placed the water by her side and took her hand, her squeezing it when a contraction would it. Danny had to squeeze back at times too because if he didn't she would have broke his hand on the spot.

"How much longer?" said Danny.

"She has about two hours to go for the first baby," said the attendant.

"I don't think I'll survive for two more hours," said Danny.

"At least your in a hospital," she said.

"Danny, it hurts like I can't believe it," she said.

"Don't worry, you're a strong girl. I know you'll get through it," said Danny. His words encouraged her as she endured.


The sun crept out in the early morning. But in the room, things were going worse, at least for Danny.

"Danny, I'm going to kill you! Then when you're reborn I'm going to hunt down your new body and kill you again! Then I'm going to go down to the Underworld and kill you permanently!" she yelled.

"Ouch," thought Danny. "Please tell me it's almost over."

"The first baby will be coming in a moment. The cervix has dilated enough for the baby to come out," said the attendant. One attendant got some towels ready while the other attendant readied herself. Asclepius came in now to take over.

"Okay, on the count of three, I want you to push when your cntractions hit okay?" said Asclepius. Katie nodded. She looked like she was weak, but Danny knew she was a strong person.

"One..two..three...push!" said Asclepius. Katie pushed, screaming at the same time as a big contraction hit her and she felt as if something was about to slide out from her vaginal area.

"One more time. One...two...three...push!" said Asclepius. Katie gave another push, Danny holding her hand to give her some comfort for the pain.

Okay. Keep going. The first baby is crowning," said Asclepius. Danny knew exactly what he meant, but he didn't want to look for fear that if he did, he would faint, and the least thing he needed was to pass out during his children's birth.

"One more time should do it Ms. Stone. Now on the count three, I want you to give all your might into the next push. One...two...three...PUSH!" said Asclepius. Katie's top half rose off the table as she gave her all into pushing out her baby. Her scream deafened the room as the baby was oushed out into the world. The next thing they knew, they heard the sound of a baby crying as it's lungs filled with air for the first time. The attendant wrapped the baby up when it came, making Danny and Katie unable to see which one it was, while the other attendant snipped the umbilical cord.

"The next baby is coming fast. Ms. Stone, I'm going to need three good pushes," said Asclepius.

"Danny, I don't know if I can go on," she said. For the first time, she looked like she was hurt bad, a tear running down her cheek. Sweat was all over her, and her voice sounded more like a plea. Danny pressed his forehead.

"You can do this. Your my strong girl Kate. I need you, and the kids need you. Keep going," he said directly to her. A familiar glimmer took a hold in her eyes and she nodded.

"One...two...three...push!" said Asclepius. Katie pushed as another contraction hit, her toes curling on the bed/operating table.

"The baby looks just about to crown. Give it another. One...two...three...push!" he said. She gave another hard push. She could feel the last baby portruding out from her.

"One more time. One...two...three...push!" said Asclepius. Katie gave her all on this one; one long, loud scream signaled her release. After she was done she slumped back down, giving a half-yell, half-laugh when it was all over. Danny and her heard the second baby crying too. The other attendant wrapped anoter towel around the infant and snapped the umbilical cord.

"Congratulations. Your twins are here," said Asclepius. Katie gave one last, small scream as her afterbirth hit her, sending her placenta out. The nurses cleaned up the mess and wrapped some new blankets around her and discarded the other ones.

"Would you like to hold them now?" said the attendants. Danny and Katie nodded. The attendant placed one baby into their arms. Danny got the girl and Katie got the boy.

The minute Danny laid his eyes on the baby, his heart instantly melted. The babies were the perfect mixture of his and Katie's skin tone. June's hair so far was black, but he knew that in a few months it might be lighter than that. It's eyes were closed, but he had a strong hunch of what color they were. The babies were cooing, but not doing much right now.

"Hi June," Danny said softly to his cooing daughter. "What are we going to name the boy?"

"Gerald, after your dad," said Katie. Danny looked at her, his eyes swimming with emotion.

"Thank you," he said softly. He kissed her softly and went back to gazing at June.

"Gerald looks a lot like his dad," she said. Danny looked and saw what she meant. Heis facial features were like a baby version of Danny's, which meant by the time he was Danny's age, the girls would be all over him.

"I can see it now, about three girls a day," said Katie.

"Oh my gods, our son is less than thiry minutes born and you're already predicting his sex life," said Danny. They both laughed, including the attendants and Asclepius.

"I think it's about time to feed them Ms. Stone," said Asclepius. Danny gave her June and she instinctively latched both babies to her nipples to allow them to feed. As they were being fed, Danny couldn't hep but stare at them. Two precious kids were right there, and he would care for them always. I brought such emotion to his heart that he was surprised he didn't break down right then and there. Instead he sat down beside Katie and watched them.

"They're so beautiful," he told her, gazing at the twins. "Thanks for getting them here."

"Thanks for giving me the chance," said Katie.


Danny walked out to the lobby after the twins had been fed. He was deciding how he was going to break the news to them. When he looked out to the lobby, everyone he had Iris-messaged was there.

The minute he stepped into the lobby, everyone came.

"Anyone wanna go and see the twins?"


"Danny, Gerald looks just like you," said Annabeth.

"And June is looking like her mother," said Michelle.

"Hey, I think Gerald is opening his eyes," said Percy. To everyone's astonishement, except Danny, who knew already, Gerald's eyes were electric blue, just like Katie's. June's eyes were also just like Danny's, light brown.

"They're so beautiful," said Ms. Sky. "My grandchildren." Gaia stepped up and blessed both babies, a green mist seeming to go into their lungs, but having no effect as if it was regular air. The babies were passed around until everyone left except Gaia and Ms. Sky. The babies fell asleep in Danny and Katie's arms, Danny holding Gerald and Katie holding June.

"You must be really proud mom," said Danny.

"The proudest I've been in quite some time," said Gaia. She gazed at the two infants snoozing in their parents arms, and couldn't imagine anything better. But as she gazed at the children, she felt a malice within herself, not her in person, but the Earth. It was as if some presence in the Earth was bent on one thing, killing.


Within the depths of the earth, a shadowed figure was looking up towards the surface above.

"The time has come," it said.