I've had an idea for Percy and Annabeth stargazing with Estelle for a while and I finally wrote it during Writer's block for Jonathan Priest's request chapter of Unfair. That chapter is about halfway written but I keep rewriting it because I can't get it like I want it. Anyway, I love the idea of Percy and Annabeth narrating their thoughts on the gods who inspired the planets. I own nothing that you recognize.
"E-S-T-E-L-L-E. B-L-O-F-I-S." The little girl announced proudly as her older brother chuckled.
"What's that spell?" Her brother asked as he brought out the hot chocolate.
"Me!" The girl giggled as he laughed. "We learned how to write our names in kindergarten today!" Estelle added excitedly.
"That is very impressive, Stellabell." Percy told her with the utmost seriousness. He smiled, looking at her "Do you like school?"
"I like kindergarten!" She said as he chuckled.
"I liked kindergarten too" Percy grinned. "Kindergarten and high school were probably my favorite."
"Daddy was your teacher in high school" She said as he smirked before getting a straight face.
"Yep. He was my teacher. And even better: I had class with Annabeth" he added as his sister snuggled into his arms. "but I'm glad you like school and you learned how to write your name. It took me a long time to be able to write my name." He admitted as she looked skeptical. Though Percy was a lot easier to spell than Perseus, especially with dyslexia. He would be forever grateful for the shortened name but he couldn't help but remember his nursery school teacher who called him Perseus (though that was just before Mom found the snake in his cot so maybe there was something more to her). "Being able to write your name is special" he continued though he frowned when he saw her little brow furrow and she glanced towards him like she was confused.
"Percy Jackson" Estelle said quietly, looking up at her brother as he raised an eyebrow back at her. "You got a different name" the girl said softly. He nodded to her before she repeated his name again, stressing the Jackson part of Percy Jackson.
Oh. Oh. He realized suddenly what she meant.
Percy nodded, not really sure where to begin with his explanation because he had no idea what the five year old little girl actually knew about their family's past. "Yeah. I do." He said simply, like stating a fact. "Do you know why?" The little girl quickly shook her head. He frowned slightly, wishing it wasn't just him alone with Estelle on the fire escape tonight. Annabeth was always better at explaining these things. At least she always seemed like that to him. "Well cuz Mom's name used to be Sally Jackson. Before she married Paul-"
"Daddy!" Estelle corrected as Percy grinned at her before he continued
"Okay. Yeah…" he agreed. "But before she was Sally Blofis, she was Sally Jackson. Since I'm her son I got her last name. But then she married Paul and she changed it."
"Like you and Annabeth!" Estelle said happily and he laughed again.
"Exactly." He nodded before shutting the door to their little apartment so his wife could sleep. "Mom changed her name because she loves Paul. Annabeth changed her name because she loves me. Most of the time, I hope" he joked though he wasn't surprised to see Estelle didn't understand his humor. Estelle stared blankly at him until he quickly told her to forget it.
"Don't you love him, too? Daddy? You love daddy, right?" Estelle blinked, glancing towards her brother.
"Of course. But I don't think I'd make a good Percy Blofis" he teased as she giggled. "I've spent my whole life as Percy Jackson. I wouldn't know how to be anyone different" he looked at his sister who snuggled into him. He smiled, reaching for the blanket to wrap around her.
"But Annabeth changed her name?" Estelle asked, looking at him in childhood innocence.
"She did" he nodded after a moment "It's… different for Annabeth" he said simply, not elaborating because he knew that conversation was definitely too complicated for tonight "You'll have to ask her" he shrugged, though he hoped Estelle would forget about it before she got the chance.
"Now?" Estelle asked, looking at the night sky. "Where's Annabeth? She's s'posed to watch stars with us. Mommy said. I'll go get her!"
Percy frowned slightly before quickly shaking his head as he wrapped his arms around his sister, not letting her get a chance to get off his lap. "Let her sleep, Estelle. She's not feeling so good right now" he told his sister who frowned, worried for the blonde woman. Percy glanced towards the little girl, quickly adding "Don't worry, Stellabell. She'll feel better soon. She just went to bed a little early tonight. She should feel better in the morning… I hope" he whispered the last two words to himself. Her relieved smile lit up her whole face but he still wanted to change the subject. He grinned and started tickling Estelle as she giggled and squirmed, begging for more, as he chuckled. Once he stopped tickling her, the giggles stopped and the girl was completely distracted.
"Does it make you sad?" Estelle studied him a little while later "That you and mommy have different last names now?"
"Not at all. Mom is happy. I'm happy" he promised before grinning "Besides me and Annabeth have the same name too, so I'm not alone anymore" he joked.
"Is the baby gonna be Jackson, too?" Her big green eyes studied him.
"Yeah" Percy nodded with a smile. He couldn't help but smile when he thought of his unborn child and his wife "Cuz that's our last name and it'll be our baby" he said adjusting the little girl in his arms who nodded. Our baby.
"You're my brother." Estelle said softly and Percy glanced towards her; distracted from his thoughts. He knew more than a few of the parents in Estelle's class were surprised to learn Sally and Paul were Estelle's parents during class pick up after all the times either Percy or Annabeth got her from school. The other gossipy parents were shocked to learn Percy and Annabeth were JUST her siblings instead. He and Annabeth had to deal with that a lot over the years but today was Estelle's first experience with others reacting to her family and the drastic age difference between half siblings. "My teacher said brothers and sisters have the same last name." Estelle said quietly, looking up as the sky turned darker.
"Sometimes" Percy said simply, looking out towards the horizon. "Most of the siblings I know have different last names" he added with a dismissive shrug.
Estelle blinked and looked towards him "Daddy has lots of names. You call him Paul-"
"Sometimes" Percy nodded before trying not to laugh at how angry Estelle looked at being interrupted.
"But other times you call him Dad" she continued, looking offended by his slight grin. "Your daddy has lots of names too." She said looking at her brother. Luckily she didn't seem to question that her brother had a different father. To her that was just the way it was. Her daddy is a teacher. Percy's daddy is a god.
"Sometimes" he repeated with a smirk. "Poseidon. Neptune. Earthshaker. Stormbringer. God of the Sea. Dad." He looked at Estelle. "Why?" She shrugged at his question.
"He's important," Estelle said quietly as Percy laughed.
"Sometimes" he joked before glancing towards the sky as she giggled. Good, no sign of an angry deity. He really didn't want to deal with a hurricane tonight.
"You're a grown up" Estelle pointed out as Percy grinned. Sometimes he thought but didn't answer. He figured he should at least attempt maturity tonight.
"You wanna know a secret, Stellabell?" Percy asked, looking at the sky. He was looking for a subject change to distract her from her questions.
"A demigod secret?" She asked eagerly, loving every moment they trusted her with such important things.
"A Percy secret" he corrected before seeing her pause. "Kind of a demigod secret" he amended quickly.
At her slow nod, Percy smiled "the very first constellation I ever learned." He said "Annabeth taught me."
She wrinkled her nose "That's not a good secret. Annabeth is the smartest and the bestest."
He chuckled, seeing the very first stars of the night coming out. "We gotta say hello to the stars, Stellabell" Percy added. He was thinking of his future as he spoke aloud all those plans to the stars. Estelle smiled seeing the stars seeming to get brighter as the sky got darker, the more Percy talked to the stars. The demigod just continued talking to the sky. He didn't hear the footsteps until he heard his wife's voice.
"Talking to the stars tonight?" Annabeth smiled, curling up into Percy's arms in the folding chair as he shifted Estelle from his lap.
He wrapped his arms around her as he corrected "Just telling them hello." He glanced towards her as she leaned into him "feeling better? How'd you sleep?"
She groaned softly before closing her eyes again. "Mrs O'Leary snores" she complained as he snorted.
"You tell me that I snore" he reminded her with a smirk, in addition to drooling in his sleep.
"You do. You don't take over the whole bed like the dog does" Annabeth retorted as he chuckled. "What are you telling the stars?" She asked.
"Just that Annabeth is the smartest and the bestest" He answered as his sister decided to join them. It seemed that was a unanimous decision based on Estelle's addition.
"Cuz she is!" Estelle weighed in quickly as Annabeth laughed. "We're stargazing!"
"Did Percy tell you some of the stories about the stars yet? Why the constellations look the way they do?"
"Nu uh!" Estelle said quickly; looking accusingly towards her brother. "Not yet!"
"It just became dark enough!" The young man defended himself as Annabeth laughed.
"Mommy and daddy were talking 'bout you moving?" Estelle frowned, studying both of them suspiciously.
"We are…" Annabeth confirmed "We'll be moving soon."
"California?" Estelle frowned. She didn't remember it but she knew that's where they moved last time.
"Nope! We'll stay in New York, just to a house instead of an apartment" Percy added. "but we'll still have you over all the time" he promised as the girl seemed satisfied.
"Kay. But why are you moving?"
"Cuz we want a house" Annabeth said, reaching for Estelle as Percy stood up to get another chair, just in case.
"Can I see it?" The child asked as the adults laughed.
"It's not built yet, silly." Percy laughed "almost ready to start building it though, with Annabeth's designs"
"Annabeth's gonna build it?" Estelle blinked, confused as the blonde laughed.
"I'm not going to build it. Just design it. I'm gonna tell the builders how to make it. Like the instructions on LEGOs-"
"Your house is gonna be made from LEGOs?" Estelle asked skeptically as Percy nearly laughed as he sat back down.
"Not quite. You know the pictures I draw for work?" At the small nod, she continued "well one of those pictures is going to be our house."
"Woah" Estelle whispered, in admiration.
"I know" Percy nodded to her as Annabeth grinned at how equally impressed they both were.
Estelle considered it "Soon you get a house. But not tonight. Tonight I get a sleepover. Tell me the star stories"
"Demanding demanding" Percy teased as Annabeth laughed. "Maybe first we tell you about some other stuff in the sky. Stuff that's around the stars."
"Like the sun and the moon… and the planets?" Annabeth suggested as Estelle grinned.
"You told me 'bout that before! I 'member it! Artemis has the moon and Apollo has the sun!" She tried to remember "the sun is like Apollo's pet?"
"Kinda… more like his car. He drives the sun" Annabeth corrected as Percy snorted, muttering 'better than Thalia did'. Annabeth promptly elbowed him in the ribs. "Apollo drives the sun across the sky… sort of. It's complicated"
"Yeah! And then there's also the planets" Percy added. "They're named after the gods to honor them." He grinned as he continued. "There's a lot of planets so my school taught us some ways to remember the order when we were young. My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pancakes!" Annabeth was trying not to laugh at Estelle's face.
Estelle blinked, shaking her head in confusion "Mom's not here. She can't make us pancakes"
"They're not really pancakes. They're… fake… imaginary pancakes to help remember the order of the planets."
Estelle glanced towards Annabeth then back to Percy. "So no pancakes? You'll make pancakes tomorrow, right? I like chocolate pancakes! Please make pancakes?" At his definite affirmative she brightened. "So what's the order that's not real pancakes?"
"Do you know their names, Stellabell?" Annabeth asked "the first planet is Mercury. His Greek name is Hermes."
"Do the gods live on their planets?"
"It's more like a tribute? I think" Percy admitted "the gods live elsewhere and were just… gifted.. the planets. As a 'named the same' thing. Like Other Percy? How I am named Perseus… and you're Estelle like Mom's mom." Estelle nodded slowly. "After Mercury is Venus. She's the Roman name of Aphrodite. Aphrodite's Piper's mom."
"All the planets are Roman?" Estelle asked "how come?"
"Cuz the Romans wanted to feel important" Percy joked "At least that's what Annabeth's cousin would say." The blonde grinned as Estelle frowned as soon as Magnus was mentioned. "What? Oh come on, We're just being silly." But he knew the little girl didn't really like the two Einherji, in her words she described them both only as 'weird'. Percy continued instead "Okay do you know what planet comes next? Starts with E."
Estelle thought about it before grinning "Me!"
"Mmmm no" Annabeth laughed "But that's a good guess. Here's a hint. It's the planet we live on." They could both tell she was coming up blank so Annabeth stepped in "Earth."
"Is Earth a god?"
"Uhhh…" the two demigods blinked and looked over her head, trying to think of how to explain. Neither really knew of a child-friendly explanation for the Titans but they knew they'd have to get better within the next couple years once their unborn child started asking questions. "She's kinda… sort of. Um actually she's from before the gods. She's a titan."
"What's a-"
"A titan is like a god, just older" Annabeth stepped in quickly, not wanting to get into it tonight. "They're from before the Gods. Their parents… of some of the gods anyway"
"So is Earth the mommy of the gods?"
"She's the grandmother to the gods…" Percy said quickly. "At least to most of them. Their mother was a different Titan; she doesn't get a planet."
"Does Earth Titan have another name? Like the Greeks? Did you get to meet her?!" She asked as Percy flinched at the memories of Gaia. Both demigods wanted to move on to the next name on the list rather than think of the time they awoke the Earth. That is definitely a not a bedtime story they wanted to share.
Bothe demigods spoke quickly, talking at once to continue. "The second M is for Mars-" "Then comes Mars and-"
"That's Frank's daddy!" Estelle said happily as the adults laughed.
"Yeah, he is." Percy nodded with a grin "Mars is the Roman name for Ares. Just between us, I like his Mars form a whole lot better than I like him as Ares. Mars never tried to kill me"
"Percy!" Annabeth scolded as he grinned. "One of these days you'll talk yourself into a lot of trouble because of your mouth. Oh wait, that's already happened" she smirked as he grinned, shaking his head.
"Or I'll talk myself out of trouble. I've done that too" he teased back. He could see his sister was getting impatient so he continued on with the planets "After Mars is Jupiter."
"That's California, silly" Estelle corrected. She had heard them talk a lot about it.
"Camp Jupiter is in California, but Jupiter is a planet. His Greek name is Zeus."
"I know him!" Estelle said happily "You talk 'bout him lots and lots. He's the boss god and the king!" Percy almost sighed because of course that was the mythology she recognized.
"Do you know who N is? For the nine" Annabeth asked with a smile towards her husband "Neptune!"
"That's Percy's daddy!"
"Sort of, my dad is Poseidon. But Neptune is his name for the Romans. Kind of like when you play pretend? Or no... actually he's both? He's Poseidon and Neptune to different people. Like earlier we talked about how there's different names"
Estelle nodded, wanting to know everything about the blue planet "Have you ever been there? To your daddy's planet?"
"I don't think I'd like the trip into Space very much. I'd much rather hang out in his palace under the sea" Percy said honestly as Annabeth tried to stifle her laughter.
"Annabeth's mommy doesn't have a planet?" The blonde's laughter promptly stopped. "Why? Thought you said the important gods got planets? Athena is important! You said so!"
"Cuz she's got a city. Dad got a planet and she got a city" he explained as quickly and simply as he could because he didn't want the girl to accidentally insult his mother-in-law. "Not all the gods could get planets. There was too many, so the Planet Namer People just picked some gods to use."
"Planet Namer People?" Annabeth gave him a strange look as he shrugged. "Astrologists? Astronomers?" Percy stuck out his tongue as she laughed in that Don't be stupid, Seaweed Brain kind of way.
"Neptune's the bestest planet because it's Percy's daddy's planet" Estelle added, ignoring the couple. "Who's next?" It took a minute for Annabeth to speak once she thought of her least favorite planet; the one right after her favorite.
"Next is Saturn… his Greek name is Kronos." Annabeth whispered. Percy squeezed her hand as she moved deeper into his arms. "He was another Titan."
"Did you meet him too?" Estelle looked between them "What's he like?" This was another name she'd never heard before.
Percy's voice was quiet somber as he closed his eyes. Another story Estelle wasn't really ready for. "He wasn't so nice, Stellabell." Estelle wanted to ask more questions but Percy quickly continued "The next is Uranus. Wisegirl, does he have another Greek name?" He frowned as Annabeth tried to remember.
"Ouranos, I think?" Annabeth blinked, trying to remember "Titan of the sky… another like Gai- Earth. Father to the Titans. Last but not least: Pluto!"
"Hazel's daddy!" Estelle said "And Nico's!" She liked those cousins when they'd play silly games with her.
"Nico is a son of Hades. Like Poseidon and Neptune, but with Pluto" Percy corrected. "That's all the planets that I know of." He joked as Annabeth laughed. "You'll know more planets than anyone in your class"
"No! Not bedtime yet! Tell more star stories?" Estelle begged, eagerly after listening to a couple different ones. Percy and Annabeth were trying to decide if it was time for bed. "What's your favouritest stars?" She looked at them both. She figured Percy would pick the Percy stars. Estelle liked the stories about the dog stars and the lion stars best so far. She liked listening to Annabeth describe the different people in the stars; like the Seven Sisters or Orion or Cassiopeia.
"Mine is a constellation lots of people don't know about" Percy started "She's called the Huntress." He pointed to the sky as Estelle followed his finger. "She was a good friend." Estelle studied both demigods for a moment. She saw the way Annabeth moved her hand to touch a section of Percy's hair before touching her own.
"Did she die?" Estelle whispered. From what they'd told her, all the constellations were memorials for those who died a long time ago.
"Yeah" Annabeth nodded, blinking quickly. Her voice sounded funny to Estelle, like when she was talking about the Titan planets "The Huntress... She died. She's important, really important. She's my favorite too. Her name was Zoë. She was a Hunter of Artemis and she died to protect us."
"She's got pretty stars" Estelle added, leaning into her brother. "I heard Daddy talking 'bout how if you know the stars then you're not lost?"
"A lot of people use the stars for navigation," Annabeth nodded. She smiled thinking back to the first lessons she taught Percy. "That bright star in the sky, do you see it? Up there?"
"That one!" Estelle squealed as she pointed. Both adults laughed, following her gaze. "Does it got a name too?"
"Yep. Polaris" Percy remembered. "North star. It stays put when everything else moves around. The constellations it is part of… they have a couple different names depending on who you ask. Big Dipper and Little Dipper. Or my favorite Big Bear and Little Bear. Big Bear guards her Little Bear and she points to Polaris. And then Polaris is part of the Little Bear's tail."
"Bears don't have tails" Estelle said, looking at the two adults like they'd gone crazy. "That's silly."
"These bears have tails" Annabeth explained at the same time her husband spoke.
"Zeus gave her a tail… for a disguise or something...I guess? Idunno" Percy added with a shrug. "Big bear and little bear"
"Why?" The little girl looked at them curiously.
The couple shared a look, both desperately shaking their heads to each other. A silent begging the other one to answer. Annabeth won; so with a quiet groan, Percy tried to think of some kid-friendly explanation for Hera's wrath against her husband's demigods. Finally Percy came up with enough of an answer he could use. "To protect her and her son from Hera".
Half expecting Estelle's next question to be another 'why?', he shot his wife a pleading look. But Estelle surprised them both with "Hera was mad at her. So she's a demigod, too."
Unfortunately, Percy's mouth was faster than his brain and he mumbled a quick "No but her son was" before he could stop himself. Annabeth promptly shot him a look and he shrugged helplessly back to her.
"Then why was Hera mad at her?" The girl asked with such innocence that Percy was kind of jealous though he was mostly relieved his sister didn't know enough Greek legends to understand.
"Because she had a baby" he felt pretty proud of his explanation. Until Estelle flung herself into Annabeth's lap and clung to the woman like the ground would swallow her up again and she'd disappear forever.
"Nooooo!" Estelle wailed, burying her face in the blonde's arms. Annabeth glared at him with a whatever you just did, undo it. FIX IT kind of look. Percy frowned trying to think of what exactly he said that got his sister so upset. It was a very quick, very silent conversation between them, both feeling helpless and not entirely sure what to do. Luckily Percy didn't have to rack his brain for very long because his sister filled in the rest through her wails and sobs. She clung to Annabeth tightly. "Annabeth's gonna gonna have a baby... and and and Hera's gonna... she's gonna get mad!" she sniffled, through her tears. Percy instantly understood what he said wrong. "Don't want her to get hurt!"
"She won't. Hera knows better than to come after Annabeth" Percy promised as his wife grinned and squeezed his hand while wiping Estelle's cheeks with her other hand. "She knows not to mess with her," he smiled before kissing the blonde curls. His wife snuggled into him as he winked and she grinned.
"Promise?" Estelle whispered, looking at her brother. Her tearstained cheeks broke Percy's heart and he knew it's only get worse if their baby looked anything like his wife. He knew he'd definitely be a pushover kind of dad. But right now he had to deal with the crying child in front of them instead of thinking about a future child. Both Jacksons nodded with the utmost sincerity. This was one promise he knew he could make.
"Promise" they both said at the same time. Percy looked at his sister. "Hera knows how good of a fighter Annabeth is and so she'll leave her and the baby alone. Annabeth is gonna be fine. Hera doesn't want to face her." He was speaking not only as her husband but also as someone who watched Annabeth going up against Hera.
Satisfied, Estelle nodded, crawling into Percy's arms. She wiped her eyes and yawned. The two adults laughed at that before she seemed to disappear into his embrace. So much for her insistence that she wasn't tired. "Percy, I'm glad you're not a bear" she mumbled sleepily.
"Me too, Stellabell, me too."