HEY REMEMBER THAT ONE TIME THAT I TOOK A THREE MONTH HIATUS?

Yeah, me too. That sucked, lets never do that again, kay? Sorry kiddos, I've had marching band and the musical and have been absolutely swamped. That and a few personal problems… like depression. But yay, good news, I have the will to live and write again, so there's that! Enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or the song "Back to December".

You can do this, Annabeth.

No, I can't!

You don't have a choice!

I gritted my teeth. Why was it that my life was filled with so many struggles? Hadn't I suffered enough? I'd fought monsters, I'd battled Titans… heck, I'd even been to hell and back. And now this. Possibly the least favorable thing I'd ever had to do in my life. The gods just loved to test me, didn't they?

I was going to have lunch with my father.

I sighed and looked around my bathroom, the mirror reflecting my pained expression. I was filled with dread for this little meeting, because not only was it a cozy catch up, I also had to tell my father that I was engaged. And introduce him to my fiancé. My fiancé… who, of course, wasn't exactly known for his social graces.

Just then, Percy poked his head into the bathroom. "I have a problem," he said nervously.

"What?" I asked exasperatedly, fearing the worst.

He held up his new shirt that I had bought for him especially for this luncheon, which was now sporting a huge, charred hole in the middle of it.

"I may have forgotten the iron on it,' he said meekly, wincing at my expression, which no doubt closely resembled that of someone having an aneurism.

"Its fine," I said tightly. "Just go find a plain white one to wear. How does this dress look?" I asked, examining myself in the mirror and tugging nervously on the black fabric.

"Good," said Percy. "But, then again, so did the last six you tried on."

I glared at him through the mirror and went back to looking at myself, smoothing a loose curl back and away from my face. "Well, once you find a shirt that hasn't been burnt to a crisp," I said pointedly, and Percy had the good grace to look guilty, "We can go."

"Yippee," said Percy halfheartedly. "Meeting the in-laws."

"Just one in-law," I said tersely, grabbing my heels as I left the bathroom.

After several more ruined shirts and a quick ironing how-to ("See, Percy? You stand the iron upright.") we were out the door and catching a taxi to a ritzy restaurant in New York.

The last time my dad had seen Percy in person was way before we were dating; they had talked minimally over an Iris message once when I was in high school, but that had been years ago. I myself hadn't seen my dad since my senior year. We exchanged forced cordial emails from time to time and I had told him when I got my job at the firm I was working for, but for the most part we didn't acknowledge each other's existence, simply because it was easier than trying to clean up the colossal mess that was our relationship. But I was an adult now—an engaged adult, and I knew it was about time to try to patch things up. I had known it for sometime, in fact, but it wasn't until my dad called saying that he was in New York for business and wanted to meet up with me that I had actually done anything about it.

I was just hoping that today would go smoothly enough that maybe he and I could find some common ground and put the past behind us. Unfortunately, I was a first-class grudge holder… and, looking at my mother, it wasn't a real shocker.

Enveloped in my worry, I jumped when Percy touched my hand. "Everything will be fine," he said as our cab slowed to a halt, and I gulped nervously as I realized that we had arrived.

"I hope so," I said, checking my lipstick quickly before getting out of the car.

As we walked into the restaurant, my stomach did little flip flops as I quietly freaked out. What where we even going to talk about for an entire meal, the weather? The stock market? The fact that I ran away when I was seven, in the dead of the winter?

Percy held the door open for me, and I nearly tripped on the rug and face planted. I caught my reflection in the glass double doors; I looked like a hot mess, panic stricken down to every last cell in my body. Not exactly how I wanted to look when I reunited with my father. Taking a deep breath and squaring my shoulders, I took Percy's hand and composed myself as we stepped through the second set of doors and into the restaurant.

"We're looking for a Frederick Chase," said Percy to the hostess, who smiled and instructed us to follow her.

I saw him from across the room. He stood and waved us over, smiling, but looking as nervous as I felt. I remained serene, my face emotionless as we approached him.

"Percy," my father said warmly, shaking his hand warmly. He turned to look at me. "Hello, Annabeth," he said quietly, smiling anxiously. "I'm so glad you made time to see me."

"Hi," I said shortly. Percy cast me a look that clearly said You can do better then that.

"Er…" I racked my brains for something good to say. "I like your tie," I said lamely.

"Thanks," my father said uncomfortably, fiddling with it. He suddenly opened his arms widely, looking at me expectantly.

At first I thought that he was showing off his tie, which was actually a rather boring one, when I realized that he was trying to give me a hug. Feeling stupid, I stepped forward just as he gave up and started lowering his arms. We looked at each other awkwardly, not really sure what to do.

"Uh… why don't we sit down?" suggested Percy, coming to our rescue.

"Of course," said my father hurriedly, sitting down and looking flustered. "I, uh, ordered us some drinks," my dad said, gesturing at the table, were two glasses of water for him and Percy. And for me…

"I remembered that milk was your favorite to drink," my father said, nodding toward a glass of milk on the table. He grinned, looking rather proud that he remembered such a small detail about the daughter he had not lived with for fifteen years.

"Dad… I was seven," I said, sounding harsher then I had intended. His face fell, and looking slightly crestfallen, cleared his throat and turned to Percy.

"So…" my dad said awkwardly, making Percy jump in alarm as he realized he was addressing him. "What do you do again?"

"Uh…" Percy said stupidly, panicking. Small talk was never his thing. "I… well… kids."

My father frowned. "Did you just say you do—"

"He's a teacher," I said exasperatedly, resisting the urge to stab myself with my salad fork. "A high school teacher."

"Yes, a high school teacher," said Percy, blushing furiously and looking at me in apology. "I teach Greek Mythology, Ancient Civ…" My dad nodded, looking slightly relieved.

Silence fell between us, the soft tinkling of a piano in another room of the restaurant playing merrily in the background.

"Well, this weather—" started Percy.

"How about that stock market—" began my father. "Oh, I mean, yes the weather I was just about to bring that up…"

"No you're right, the stock market!" said Percy desperately. "It just keeps going up… and down…" he tapered off, probably realizing that he knew nothing about the stock market.

"Lets go back to talking about the weather, eh?" suggested my dad.

"Yeah, the weather!" said Percy with enthusiasm, causing the people from the surrounding tables to look at us.

I started chugging my milk.

"Yes, lovely weather…" my dad said.

How could I possibly tell him I'm getting married, I can't even talk to him about the weather!

"Yes, the sun has been out quite a bit," said Percy, pulling at his sleeves.

Do I have to tell him? What if we just eloped and "forgot" to inform him?

"But a few showers here and there, enough to keep everything green…" said my father.

What if I faked a ruptured spleen and got the hell out of here? Would he want to reschedule, or would we be able to call it good for the next ten years?

"Yeah, not too humid though," said Percy, looking at me in alarm as he realized that I was downing my entire glass of milk as if my life depended on it.

Ugh, this is 2%.

I was more of a skim person myself.

"But not too dry either," my father was saying.

I just need to find the perfect time to tell him…

"Its very… temperate," my father said with a smile.

"Temperate," repeated Percy.

"Temperate," my father said, nodding.

Percy's face was blank, and I could tell by his expression he had no idea what the hell 'temperate' meant. Panicking, he suddenly blurted out, "Annabethhassomethingtotellyou!"

I sprayed a mouthful of 2% all over the table.

"Percy!" I said angrily, who was dabbing at his suit jacket with a napkin.

"What?" he hissed. "You're the one who spewed milk!"

"Well, you were the one who said—"

"What did you have to tell me, Annabeth?" asked my father, who was trying to act as though the fact that his twenty-three-year-old-daughter just spat milk all over the table of a fancy restaurant was nothing out of the ordinary.

"Uh… just that…" I looked over at Percy nervously, who gave me a thumbs up. "Just that… I agree. The weather has been quite temperate. Which means mild," I said for Percy's sake.

"Annabeth," my dad said, looking at me sternly. "I know that's not what Percy meant. What are you hiding from me?"

Oh, sure, now his parental intuition shows up… twenty years too late.

"Well…" I said. "Look, I just don't know how to tell you, I mean… it's a long story… goes back to when we were twelve…well, technically our births I suppose… although you could potentially argue that it really started at the dawn of time, when-"

"Oh for the sake of the Gods!" said Percy, throwing his hands up. "Mr. Chase, Annabeth and I are getting married."

My father stared at us. I reached for my milk again, but Percy kicked me from under the table.

"Married?" he asked finally.

"Yeah," I said, smiling weakly.

"Oh," he said, looking rather unhappy, sitting back in his chair. "When did this happen?"

"A couple months ago," I said quietly, slumping in my chair. My father raised his eyebrows, and Percy suddenly became indefinitely interested in his tie.

"And everyone else has known for that whole time?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said, not knowing what else to say. I looked up at my dad; hurt splayed across his face, and for the first time since my engagement I wished I'd had told him sooner.

"I see," he said flatly, playing with a butter knife on the table. "Well, congratulations."

"Thank you," said Percy softly.

"Thanks," I mumbled.

Well. This was going well.

Our salads came. We ate in silence; I poked my lettuce around on my plate, not hungry.

What should I have done? True, it probably would have been better to tell my father relatively soon after we'd gotten engaged; but that wasn't the sort of thing that you can just email, and calling him up on the phone when I hadn't heard his voice in years seemed uncomfortable… which of course, would have been nothing compared to the discomfort that we were presently dealing with. Or rather… not dealing with.

Turning over a rather limp slice of tomato with my fork, I gave a bit of a start as Percy suddenly stood up.

"I'm going to use the restroom real quick, back in a bit," he said, meeting my desperate gaze.

Don't you dare leave me! I told him telepathically, narrowing my eyes.

Sorry, you're going to have to hold your own, Percy communicated with a twitch of his eyebrows.

Percy Jackson, please don't leave me alone with my father—

But it was too late, Percy was already walking toward the back of the building. I turned to see my dad looking just as uneasy as I was about being completely alone. He cleared his throat and looked down in his lap. I played with my napkin nervously.

"So… how's life?" my father asked.

"Oh," I stammered, caught off guard. "I've been good. Busier then ever. Works got me doing a lot."

"Do you like your job?"

"I… yeah, I love it," I said, looking at him. "How's your family? I haven't seen them in a while."

"Well, you saw the boys last Christmas," my dad said, seeming to relax now that a little bit of tension had been diffused. "They loved coming to New York and staying with you two for the holidays, by the way. Theresa's good, so are her folks…"

"That's good," I said, smiling a bit for the first time since I stepped into the restaurant.

"You know, these days I haven't been sleeping. I keep thinking of everything that's gone wrong between us—all the birthdays that I've missed, that I never called. How you've been taking the world on by yourself for so long." He gave me a pained expression, one of remorse and regret.

"That's the thing Dad," I said. "I've never been alone, not really. I had a family at Camp."

"And now that you don't live at Camp?"

I grinned. "I have Percy."

"Percy," my dad repeated. He suddenly leaned in, and whispered, "Is Percy a good guy, Annabeth?"

"Absolutely."

"Are you sure?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. "Your mother stopped by one day to discuss this boy, and I'm not quite sure that I really approve of everything that she told me about him… kicked out of how many schools—"

"Dad!" I said, laughing. "Mom's archenemy is Percy's father. She's a little biased." My dad looked relieved, and sat back in his chair. "Trust me; Percy would take a knife, a bullet, a sword for me. And has," I said as an after thought.

"Good," my dad said, smiling. We said there in a comfortable silence for a while, then, "I suppose this is my fault," he said so softly, that at first I wasn't sure that I had heard him.

"What?" I asked.

"I said that I supposed that this was my fault," he said louder, meeting my gaze. "This whole engagement miscommunication."

"Oh," I said lamely. "No, not really. I didn't tell you."

"Because you didn't feel like you could. And that is my fault," he said with a rueful smile. "I shouldn't have let things get so bad between us."

"I shouldn't have run away," I said flatly.

"I should have been a better father. I should have realized what I had when you were mine." We were both quiet for a moment. "Look, Annabeth," my dad said, his lips curving into a sad smile. "I'd go back in time and change it, turn around and make it all right, but I can't. So if the chain is on your door, I understand." He licked his lips. "But… I mean, I guess this is me finally swallowing my pride and saying that I'm sorry. For everything."

"I'm sorry too," I said. "I go back to December all the time."

"November," my dad corrected me. "You ran away in November."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Er… no, I'm not terribly confident," he said bashfully.

"It was December," I said, laughing as he slumped his shoulders. "Points for trying, though."

"Hey, that's all I'm asking for!" he said, holding his hands up, and we both laughed.

"Wow, I leave the table and you two are acting like the plague is back, and I comeback to laughter?" I turned to see Percy, hands shoved in his pockets and looking down at the pair of us. "Looks like we made progress."

"We did, in fact," I said.

"Good," said Percy with relief, "Because I was honestly considering drowning myself in the men's room. And that's saying something," he said seriously.

"Sorry," apologized my dad. "If it makes up for it… I'd like to give you my blessing to get married. Not that I think that Annabeth would wait if I said no," he added, chuckling, "But I'd like to bless you all the same."

"Thank you, Sir," said Percy, grinning.

"Thanks Dad," I said softly.

"Of course," my dad said, winking at me before turning to Percy. "Now, I don't know about you, but I don't find meteorology terribly interesting and I get the feeling that you aren't too versed in the stock market. What do you say we talk about the Yankees?"

"Thank the Gods," Percy said in relief, and before I knew it the pair of them were talking a mile a minute about some player or another.

I smiled to myself. Sure, we weren't perfect; we had plenty more to hash out. But this was a start. And I had an addition to my guest list for sure.

"Can I get you anything else to drink, Miss?"

I swiveled to see a waitress standing there, looking at me expectantly.

I ordered another glass of milk.

Thank you so much for all of your support!

PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW! I LIVE FOR YOUR REVIEWS! xoxox