Day 6 – December 30th

Annabeth
The sun shone through the windows and I wished that Percy would remember to keep the curtains closed until I got up, but for some reason he insisted on being annoying in the mornings.

I tried to stretch but found my feet heavily weighted down. A groan escaped me and the heavy body laying on me shifted. Moments later I was tackled by the heavy body, leaving sloppy kisses all over my cheeks and hands as I tried to shield myself.

"Stop, no, Mrs. O'Leary!" I threw my arms around the mutt's neck and tackled her down to the bed, her tail still trashing as she tried to continue with her onslaught of puppy kisses. "You are too strong for your own good!"

The pup broke free and bounded around the bed, trying to find some way to play with me and I couldn't help but laugh until tears poured out of my eyes when she started spinning in circles and fell off the bed, onto her hefty butt and then flat on her back. The poor thing was so stunned at first that she just laid there for several minutes before getting up and putting her head down and trying to hide under the bed.

"Oh, you poor sweet thing, you're okay," I cooed, trying to get her to come back out from hiding and wasn't having much luck. I hopped up off the bed and tried to pull her out and scoop her up but the animal was stronger than I realized.

"Fine, stay there stubborn beast!"

She peeked her head out from under the bed and gave me that lopsided head tilt that Percy had a tendency to give me when he was confused and I face palmed.

"Not even with the man for twenty-four hours and already he's rubbed off on you! Lord help us. Come on girl, let's go get breakfast."

I made my way to the kitchen, Mrs. O'Leary hot on my heels. Maybe having a puppy in the apartment wouldn't be such a bad thing for a while. I could sure use the company when Percy wasn't here and it gave me a legitimate excuse to have leave parties and what-nots early when I wasn't having much fun.

I made my way to the coffee pot, stopping suddenly as a bright orange note caught my attention, which in turn caused Mrs. O'Leary to slam into the back of my legs. "I know, I know, my brake lights were out!"

I bent to scratch the dog behind the ears while yanking the note from the top of the coffee pot and sighed heavily.

'Babe, I will be back around 11. Don't head to the office without me! Love ya!'

"Great, can I trust you for just thirty minutes so I can shower and change?" Mrs. O'Leary looked at me like I was insane and I ignored her, making a cup of coffee. I was insane, I was talking to a dog who couldn't even answer me back. "Come on girl, I don't trust you out here alone yet."

I led the poor mutt back to the bedroom and called her up onto the bed, "Don't make me regret this."

"Percy, you are so going to get me in trouble," I whispered as we ran through the quiet halls of my office building, the jingling of her tags making the only noise around us. "Pick her up!"

"Psh, Beth, we're fine. She has been absolutely amazing and has only fallen over once since I put the harness on her!"

I couldn't help but roll my eyes at him as a smile spread across my face. He had a point.

"We are here to move your stuff to your new office. Do you really think that Mark is going to be here on a Saturday and that he is going to demote you for having your new puppy with you?"

"Well . . . no." I had to think this over. I honestly didn't think I would ever be walking into the office building with a dog either so this was never an issue that I had to analyze in my mind either. I mean, with Percy, anything was possible.

We made it to my office and I was surprised to find everything almost packed away in boxes and a cart already in the middle of the room.

"Is this what you were up to this morning?" My head whipped around, focusing on Percy as he directed Mrs. O'Leary to sit in an empty corner of the room.

"Maybe," he replied with a sheepish grin on his face.

"Why?" I asked, moving to my desk, pulling a few things out of the drawer and dropping them on top.

"So we can make this process go a little faster. I want the afternoon to just hang with you and the crazy dog over there."

"You're too sweet, Perce, but that was the plan no matter what time we finished here," I laughed as he bounded over and pulled me into a hug.

We worked silently for the next hour, packing up the last of my personal objects, books and knickknacks onto the cart dolly. I plopped Mrs. O'Leary down on the cart and led the way to the elevator as Percy pushed the cart behind me.

Some part of me felt a slight freeing sensation as I said goodbye to the corner office with no natural light. I was a sucker for windows, and the sunshine warming a room and I wasn't afforded that in my old position, though I managed.

"Hey, babe, do you get to take Piper with you?"

I turned in the elevator, arms across my chest and glared at the man, "What kind of question is that? Of course I get to take Piper with me!"

He raised his hands and shrugged his shoulders at me, "I was just checking. The last thing we need is Jason whining about how his girlfriend got left behind and what-not."

I chuckled and turned back toward the door, pressing the button for the floor above us. The car lurched upward and I was thrown off balance, my stomach nearly betraying me.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, just a little unprepared for that lurch upward."

"You got this!"

I turned to lean over the cart to give the man a kiss but the doors opened and Mrs. O'Leary sprang into action and took off down the hall.

"Perce, go get your dog before she gets us kicked out of here," I hissed, hiding a laugh and the nausea that was threatening to take over.

He ran by me, leaving a peck on my cheek, and calling after the crazy mutt he brought home. A sigh escaped me – partially exhausted and partially thrilled with the way things were going right now – as I pulled the cart from the elevator toward my new office.

I crossed the threshold to find that Percy had been rather busy this morning. Not only had he mostly packed up my old office, but he had removed all of Tom's furniture and had all of my new things put together and placed in the middle of the room so that I could decide on the exact layout. Bless that man.

"So, what do you think?"

"I think you are pretty freaking amazing right now, that is what I think."

"Awe, I love you too, babe. Now, let's get this finished, Mrs. O'Leary is going to need a run soon if you know what I mean!"

Once again, we worked in near silence, only speaking when he would ask where an item belonged. We worked effortlessly together and I could feel myself getting emotional as the last few pieces went into their place.

An arm dropped across my shoulder as I stood back and took in the room before us. "Perfect," I couldn't help but whisper.

"Not yet," he replied, leaving a kiss on the side of my mouth before leaving the room.

The warmth his arm left me with was immediately gone and a frown crossed my face until he walked back in carrying what looked like a large piece of wall art.

"I had this made just for you. Granted, I didn't know you were getting promoted, that just happened to work in my favor."

Honestly, I was afraid of the image on the other side seeing as how Percy's favorite piece of art was the infamous dogs playing poker image and that just wasn't my cup of tea. This could be his one downfall in gifts.

I sucked in a deep breath and waited as he moved to the one empty spot on the wall between my two windows.

"Okay, close your eyes and don't peek."

"Nope," I said, popping the P. "Not happening."

"No complaining, remember?"

"Ugh. Fine."

I closed my eyes and tried desperately not to peek. There was the brief sound of hammering and a few grunts as I could tell Percy was having issues getting the canvas on the wall how he wanted it.

"Do you need some help?"

"No! Your eyes better be closed too!"

"They are Seaweed Brain! But if you don't hurry, I am just going to come over there and do this for you!"

"There! Now, you may open your eyes."

My eyes popped open to find an off-white canvas perched happily in its new home. The breath was knocked out of me for a moment and a hand went to my mouth as tears sprang to my eyes.

"How did you . . ." I trailed off, moving slowly toward him and the canvas.

He shrugged his shoulders at me and my eyes went back to the painting. In the middle were twenty-eight little hand prints that formed a massive heart. Each hand was a different color and each color bled into the next.

"Do you like it?"

"I . . . I . . ." I couldn't get the words out and nodded my head yes at him. Finally, they came, "I absolutely love it Percy! How on earth did you manage this?"

"I tracked down the first class to get your very first published book, and being a teacher helped too," he replied with a sheepish grin and a wink.

"It is the perfect piece. You never cease to amaze me."

"Why do people always tell me that?"

I broke into a laugh before pulling him to me. "Because it's true." I tried to kiss him but was rudely interrupted by a whining creature that was now clawing at my legs. "Fine, fine, we will go now! You owe me a kiss, Mr. Jackson."

AN - Sorry, sorry, sorry! More is coming, I promise. Sometimes it really sucks being an adult.

Thank you once again to 3 for being my amazing beta. Don't forget to check out her new story!