Demigods Deck the Halls
Sally's P.O.V
I hear the bell ring just as I'm finishing up, setting the table. They must be here! I check the clock and see that it's exactly 7 PM, they're perfectly on time. I wipe my hands on my apron as I call out to Percy, "They're here!". I hear him scrambling down the stairs, probably fiddling with his hair or tie. He was so nervous when he was getting ready, I was thoroughly amused by it all. But, it's cute that he wants to look his best for Annabeth. I hear the door open and I hear Percy greeting the Chase's. I check on the food once more before joining Percy at the door.
I see Percy blushing as Annabeth teases him and Frederick laughing along with them. "Hi! Welcome!", I shake Frederick's wife's hand. "It's so nice to finally meet you! Thank you for having us over for Christmas dinner in your lovely home, Mrs Blofis. I'm Helen." "I'm happy you came. Please, call me Sally." "I hope we're not early, Sally. Annabeth refused to let us leave any later", Frederick adds with a laugh. "Oh no! We're so glad that you came, early or late", I respond. "It's nice to meet you Annabeth, Percy talks a lot about you", I smile at her, as Percy blushes, before bending down to be at eye level with the twins, "Hi, what are your names?" " I'm Matthew and this is Bobby", the taller boy tells me enthusiastically.
I offer to take all of their coats as they take off their shoes and enter. "Careful Annabeth! While taking off your coat, don't mess up the hair you spent a half-hour on", Frederick comments jokingly. Everyone, except a blushing Annabeth, laughs slightly. "Trying to look good for me, were you Wise Girl?", Percy teases. "Don't worry Annabeth, even Percy took an hour to get ready. He was so nervous before you came, his hands were wet with sweat!", I reassured her. "Mom!", Percy exclaims with a red face as Annabeth giggles lightly along with everyone else. Paul comes down the stairs just then and introduces himself to everyone as he shakes their hands.
I lead them all to the dining table, where the food is set up in the middle of the table with plates for each seat and cutlery along with it. "I had to add two more chairs because the table only seated six so I hope that it isn't too tight a fit", I say apologetically. "Of course not, we'll all be okay!", Annabeth quickly adds. As everyone sits down at the table, I uncover the dishes and take out the cutlery for serving. I can see everyone's gazes on the food I made. "This is wonderful, Sally! It must have taken you ages to make all this", Helen comments. "Not really, it was fun to make. I'm glad you like it", I reply with a smile. The past two days, I'd busied myself making the meal, which included turkey and roast beef with drizzled cranberry sauce with a side of gravy, mashed potatoes, carrots and green beans for the main course; and Christmas pudding and fruit cake for dessert.
"Annabeth dear, can you say grace?", I ask her from across the table. "Sure, Sally!" She says grace and then we all sit down to eat. No one talks much as we all dig into the delicious meal. "This is delicious!", Paul remarks and everyone else nods and makes sounds of agreement. I blush scarlet, "Thank you so much!" As we eat dinner Helen, Frederick, Paul and I all talk about our respective jobs. We talk about my novels and some of the difficulties Paul faces dealing with and teaching high school kids. I learn that Frederick is an American and Military History professor at West Point and Paul and Frederick exchange notes on their styles of teaching. I also learn that Helen used to be an interior designer before she met Frederick and got married to him. After that, she moved to San Francisco with him and left her old job behind. She also tells me how her ex-husband (Bobby and Matthew's father) had a drinking problem and is now in jail and she was so happy when she met Frederick and he wasn't a bit like her first husband and how he has really helped her deal with things and has been a great stepdad to Bobby and Matthew. I also tell her about Gabe and how glad I was when I was finally rid of him, and then how I felt when Paul came along.
Percy and Annabeth are excitedly talking about school and how Annabeth's father has finally agreed to let her move to New York and attend Goode High School and how Annabeth and her dad are going to be looking for a place for her to stay sometime during their time in Manhattan. Matthew and Bobby are playing some game with their hands and cutlery which results in food falling all over the place and Helen has to stop every few minutes to reprimand them. I tell her that it's okay and to let them play. It kind of reminds me of Percy at that age and how much fun we would have...
After we are all done eating Matthew and Bobby drag Percy and Annabeth away to play a game of Hungry Hippos and Paul and Helen volunteer to clear up the table and do the dishes in the kitchen. Frederick and I sit in the living room with cups of coffee looking at the four kids laughing and playing happily on the floor. I notice both Percy and Annabeth are playing with only one hand and upon closer inspection, I notice that they're holding hands under the table. Percy looks at me for a second and I raise my eyebrows at him gesturing to the clasped hands under the table. He blushes and turns back to the game as I laugh at how embarrassed he looks to be caught.
I point this out to Frederick and he laughs heartily. Then he sighs and looks fondly at Annabeth. "I'm so glad that Annabeth decided to come back and forgive me. Also, that the war is over and all the worry and stress is no more." I nod, "I felt the same way with Percy and more so because he's Poseidon's son. But it must have been worse for you, having to part with Annabeth so early on." Percy had told me about how Annabeth had run away young and I am sure that it must have been extremely hard on Frederick. I have a lot of sympathy for him.
He replies, "Honestly, at first, it didn't seem like much. After Athena left her to me, I loved her but I always resented Athena for leaving me with a child I hadn't wanted at first. Furthermore, to me, she was just a reminder of the time I spent with Athena and as she grew up, she began to look more and more like her mother and it eventually became too much for me to bear. When I met Helen, I was so glad to finally move on from Athena and settle into a normal, non-mythical life that I think I seemed to move on from Annabeth too because she was a reminder of my past and seemed to symbolise all my old feelings and troubles. I did love her but I always put her second, behind Helen and the twins. I think that made her feel as if I didn't love her at all. Also, my work kept me quite busy and I think Helen always had a grudge against Annabeth as she seemed to her a reminder of my previous relationship with Athena and apparently Annabeth was mistreated by her and the twins hated her too. However, in my perspective, Helen and the twins seemed to be making an effort while Annabeth simply hated them and put all of us in trouble due to her being a demigod. This all lead up to her feeling unwanted and unloved and so she ran away. Helen and the twins didn't seem to care much and at first, I thought it was just a mood and of course she would come back. When she didn't, I was very worried and I tried my hardest to find her but I only found her after many years when she wrote to me, and I hear that was because Percy encouraged her to. I am extremely grateful to him for that."
I was stunned. On one hand, I know that he loved Annabeth to bits and it must have hurt him tremendously when she ran away, but it was also partially his fault for making her feel unloved enough to run away and seemingly preferring Helen and the twins over her. But overall, I do understand his plight and I feel bad for him. As a parent, I understand how painful it would be to lose your child, and at such a young age too. It would break my heart if Percy was to run away and I might not be able to endure it. "I understand your pain, Frederick. When Poseidon left me with Percy, I wanted to run away and create a new life for us where we could be normal and Percy would never have to face the dangers. He also looks just like Poseidon and every time I looked at him, I would be reminded of my past with Poseidon. But I would never have been able to bear him running away. I am sorry for that. I tried my best to prevent that by marrying Gabe. However bad of a husband he may have been, he kept Percy safe and I was grateful for that. Even finally having him learn his true origins and leaving me at twelve hurt me. I cannot begin to understand your pain", I respond.
He smiles sadly, "After I finally reconnected with Annabeth, I felt such relief. I had honestly not known if she were alive or dead for those horrible five years. But even after that, I was always filled with worry at the thought of her going on those dangerous missions and quests and after each one, it felt like a great weight had been taken off my shoulders, until I learned she was going on another, more dangerous quest." I nodded, "With Percy, I was always scared of the Great Prophecy that I had been told off by Grover and every quest seemed more dangerous than the last. I almost wanted to lock him up somewhere secret just so my baby could be safe. I couldn't bear the thought of something happening to him."
"I feel that. When Annabeth and I had our falling out about my move to San Francisco and she left, I was terrified of something happening to her and me not knowing of it. When Percy turned up at my house with his friends and told me Annabeth was in trouble, I almost felt my heart stop. Even after they left, I couldn't help myself going up to the battlefield and helping her out myself. I wanted to see that she was safe and sound with my own eyes. When I finally met her, it felt like all was right in the world again."
"I went through something similar when Percy and Nico came to ask for my blessing for Percy to become immortal with a dip in the Styx because I knew that if something happened, I would only have myself to blame as I was the one who allowed him to do that in the first place. I knew the risk of letting him do it and I knew that there was a chance that he could drown in the Styx but I still let him do it. He wanted it so badly and I knew that I couldn't stop him but to this day, I fear for what could have happened that day because of my decision. When I didn't hear back from him, I immediately thought the worst and drove as fast as I could to the Empire State Building to see if it was true. That was when the city fell asleep and after I woke up and saw him, it felt like I was floating. We were in the middle of a war and I almost didn't care just because he was alright. Letting him go into that building alone was extremely hard and it seemed that I couldn't breathe properly until the Empire State Building lit up blue and I knew he was okay. I felt like I could finally live again after that. I had been consumed by terror and worry before that and only when I knew he was okay did I feel okay"
"All the way from San Francisco, I had no idea what was going on in New York and when I saw the news, I knew immediately that something was wrong and I was panicking because Annabeth wasn't picking up her phone, despite knowing that demigods and technology don't bode well together. Until she finally Iris messaged me and told me that everything was okay, I felt like I was being pulled apart by anxiety. I felt light-headed at that, I was so overjoyed. I couldn't wait for the end of summer so that I could finally meet my baby girl. I am so proud of the mature, beautiful strong woman she has become, despite all the hardships she faced. She has come a long way and I am filled with pride at the person she is today."
I smile at that, "I am equally proud of Percy. He has grown up so much and has become so strong and brave. I know that he's no longer my little boy anymore and he has blossomed into a wonderful young man. I'm also glad that he has found his match in Annabeth, she's a wonderful girl and they look very happy together" "I think so too. They make a wonderful couple but I do long for those days when she was just my little girl". "Don't we all", I say, laughing. We get up and go to the kitchen just as Percy and Annabeth disappear into Percy's room. "Leave the door open", I say, jokingly. "Mo-o-o-o-o-m", Percy cries, embarrassed.
Annabeth's P.O.V
Percy and I were playing Hungry Hippos with Matthew and Bobby when he suddenly tells me to come over to his room because he wants to give me my gift. I'm so glad he got me a gift! I got him one but I wasn't sure if he would. We get up and I quickly grab my gift for him before we go into his room and just as we reach, we hear Sally call out, "Leave the door open". I giggle as Percy blushes scarlet and responds to his mom, embarrassed. He tells me to close my eyes and hold out my hands.
I do it and I feel him place a small, velvet box in my hands. I open my eyes and then slowly open the box to find a beautiful pendant made of a piece of red coral. I gasp, "It's beautiful! I love it so much! Where did you get it, Seaweed Brain?", I ask him as I hook it onto my camp necklace. "I found it when I was swimming in the sea once", he said, grinning. "Thank you!", I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him closer, softly kissing him. He grins wider. "You're welcome", he says hugging me tight.
"Now open my present", I tell him excitedly, handing the small, festive bag to him. He eagerly pulls out all the colourful paper and tosses it aside, pulling out a box. He opens it to see a thin rope bracelet with a trident charm I had Jake (the head of the Hephaestus cabin) make. "Thanks Wise Girl! It's so cool!", he says as he pulls it on. "But that's not all", I say excitedly as I press the bottom of the trident's handle and a little spark of electricity shoots out of the trident onto the wall. It makes a sizzling sound as it hits the wall and leaves a small black mark on it. "Ooops", I say, guiltily. I turn to Percy to apologize but suddenly feel him lifting me off the ground and twirling me around, tightly hugging me. "That's awesome! I love it!", he says grinning widely. I smile widely at him, "I'm so happy you like it."
Just as he puts me down, I hear my dad calling out for me. It must be time to leave. I kiss him quickly once more before we come out of the room and walk to the door. I quickly put on my shoes and coat as dad, Helen and the twins say goodbye to Sally and Paul. I hug Sally goodbye and shake hands with Paul to say goodbye. I hug Percy tightly and whisper "Goodbye", softly into his ear. Dad and Helen once more thank Sally and then we leave. Before we get into the lift to go down, I quickly turn around and blow Percy a kiss. He jokingly pretends to catch it as he waves goodbye one last time. I laugh as I get into the lift. This was the best Christmas ever!
THE END