Chapter Eighteen

The Past is Past, Moving Forward

PERCY POV

Two Months Later- Christmas Day

I was grateful for my family. They forgave and forgot (or at least never brought it up). They were, how Annabeth would say, lax about it. I woke up today, feeling extra good. This was the first Christmas we'd been at home for in years. We'd been running and hiding previously. I yawned, stretched, and kissed Annabeth's cheek. She stirred slightly.

"Mmm? Percy? Everything good?" She mumbled sleepily.

"Never better, Wise Girl." And I meant it.

Gently, I set the covers aside, sneaking out of bed. Just for the heck of it, I crept past the kids' rooms to check in. Will and Kate shared a room, still, because they insisted. The always stayed up late planning things and tinkering around. At sixteen, they were already more into building things than I think Annabeth ever was. They were sound asleep. Andrew's door was wide open, which was unusual, but he, too, was dreaming away. Finally, I made it to the guest room. Matilda was home for the holidays after finishing her last semester of college early. She had also had a date last night and I had fallen asleep waiting on her. So really, I was making sure she was even here. I opened the door. She was up, gazing at something in her palm.

"Tilly?"

She jumped, startled, clutching her right hand to her chest.

"Oh, Percy! I didn't hear you!"

I chuckled. "Apparently. How was the date last night? Why were you so late? CJ's still treatin' you alright?"

Her green eyes sparkled mysteriously and mischievously.

"Better than alright, Dad" she joked, rolling her eyes giddily. I frowned.

"Woah, you didn't...uh..."

Her eyebrows knit together, thoroughly offended I brought it up.

"No, Percy, and even if we did, that's my business"

She got dreamy again and opened her palm.

"It's this," she explained. I had to step closer to look at what she held. I gasped.

"'No..."

She nodded emphatically. "Yes!"

"H-he proposed? But, but he didn't ask me!" I sputtered. "What kind of man purposes before talking to the family!"

"Um, you," Matilda pointed out.

"Well...yeah...I...This isn't about me!" I argued. I must have raised my voice higher than I wanted to, because Annabeth joined us.

"What's going on here?" She yawned. "Morning, Tilly. You good?"

"CJ proposed to her last night!" I said, gesturing nowhere in particular.

"Finally?" Annabeth said. Not the response I was expecting at all.

"He talked to me about it weeks ago!"

I was incredulous. "You knew about this?! And didn't tell me?!"

Annabeth vaguely nodded, basically ignoring me.

"Yes, Merry Christmas, Percy. Now tell me all about it, Matilda."

She placed herself next to Matilda and listened intently. I knew Annabeth didn't care a while lot about the romantic stuff, but she was going to be a good sport and feign interest. I left to check the living room. It was decorated like usual, ready for the exchange of gifts later. I looked at the grandfather clock. 7:45.

"Hey, Annabeth! Family will be over in fifteen minutes! We better get ready!"

"Okay, Percy! I'll wake the kids." She called back, shuffling away.

Quickly, I rinsed my face off in the sink and put on some fresh clothes. Luckily, I did, because family always arrives early. Now me, I'm late, but everyone else in my family is punctual.

Ding-Dong!

I opened the front door.

"Merry Christmas, Daddy!" Andrea hugged my neck, her swelling stomach pressed into mine.

"Hey, Baby! Ready for that baby of yours?"

She rolled her eyes to the ceiling, groaning.

"Am I, ever! It was due last week! Doctor said we give it another week, and if It's not out by then, he wants me to stay in the hospital"

"Agreed," Lucas mumbled, shuffling in after her, shaking my hand in greeting.

"How's the new house, Lucas?" I inquired.

"Oh, great. Andrea loves it. I just finished the baby room."

"We did, didn't we?" Andrea said, emphasizing we just a little bit. Lucas nodded.

"Yes, honey."

He mouthed "I" and pointed at himself when she turned her back. I grinned.

"Don't worry, just a few more days" I reassured him. Andrea thought I was talking to her.

"Ugh, I know! Can't wait!" She said. Lucas nodded them into the living room as another car pulled into our driveway and Annabeth came out of the bedroom.

"Percy, close the door- it's freezing!" Annabeth exclaimed.

"My Mom just pulled up." I replied.

"Oh...whatever." She obviously didn't feel like arguing on Christmas. Mom, too, was in a happy mood, lugging in presents galore. Paul trudged in behind, appearing irked about something.

"Percy, honey, I'm so glad to see you! Where are my grandkids?"

"Andrea's in the living room, and the others are getting dressed," I informed her.

"Good, good," Mom commented, bustling past me. "Andrea! Oh, my gods, you are looking great!"

I pursed my lips. My mom was ignoring me, her own son, for her grandkids. Clomping sounds excited on the stairs as the twins appeared.

"Gramma Sally!" Kate said. She hugged her. Will hugged her too, but wasn't as bubbly as his sister, which can only be expected from a man.

"Mom, where's Dylan?" I asked. That's when I found out why Paul was irritated.

"Dylan is out in the car. He's mad because we didn't buy as many presents for him as last year, so he said he wasn't coming in. So, I said fine. He can sit in the car if he wants." Paul vented.

Ah.

"I'll talk to him." I volunteered, heading out into the frost covered ground. Dylan was holding his own but shivering terribly. I opened the car door to talk to him.

"Hey, buddy. What's wrong?"

Dylan sniffled. "Mommy and Daddy don't love each other any more!"

I was taken aback. "What are you talking about, Dylan? What makes you think that?!"

"Last night, they were talking and I heard Momma talking about divorce!"

I furrowed my eyebrows. I knew my mom would have mentioned something if she and Paul were planning to split.

"I'm sure you misheard her, Buddy. They love each other more than ever."

He looked up at me, his brown eyes glinting mournfully.

"Promise?"

"I promise, Bud. Now how about coming inside and opening presents with us. Then, after breakfast, we can play in the snow."

He wrapped his arms around my neck and I lifted him up from his seat.

"But there's not any snow, Percy!"

I smiled. "I'll see what I can do about that. I think it's cold enough"

His lips curled upwards. "Awesome!" Ever since he had found out I had special powers, he was amazed. He looked at me in an all new way. I brought him inside and pulled my mom aside to tell her the reason Dylan had gotten upset so easily.

"Oh, Percy! I was talking about a friend who had spent thousands of dollars getting a divorce. I was joking with Paul about money being the only reason I hadn't left him! Oh gods, I thought Dylan was asleep!"

Her expression was strained as she searched over Dylan's face for further sadness. I understood her feelings. We wanted Dylan to have the most normal life out of all of us. We believed it to be possible now. We also wanted everything to take his mind off of the evil notes from nine months ago.

"It's okay, Mom. You and Paul can explain it to him later."

I massaged her shoulders twice after giving her a hug. "

Well, once Thalia and Nico get here, we'll be good to go"

With impeccable timing, the doorbell rang.

"And there we go!" I said, opening the door once more. They filed in, greeted us, and distributed their presents.

"Percy! Percy! Can I open my present first?" Dylan begged, bouncing jovially.

"Of course, Buddy," I responded, leaning back into the couch (very causally stretching my arm around Annabeth). Friends and family gathered into the living room

He snatched the first one with his name on it and tore the paper. He shrieked ecstatically when he saw it.

"It's the new Mythomagic expansion! Thanks Uncle Nico!"

"My gods, they still make those?!" I joked. Nico nodded.

"Yeah. That's the San Francisco collection."

"Uh-huh," I said. "Next!"

We all laughed, except for Nico and Dylan, who was enraptured by his new toys. Annabeth reached across Thalia and touched my knee.

"Why don't you open one next, Percy? It's your house, plus you always open your presents last."

My house. I smiled. Oh, you know that made me feel good about myself. I picked one out.

"From Annabeth. Hmm, let's see what I got this year."

They chuckled slightly, but when I opened it, we got silent. Inside, was a pair of handcuffs. I'm sure the Stolls meant it to be funny, but it wasn't. Not after the past few months. Even Dylan seemed to Get it. A few moments later, Annabeth exploded with anger.

"Zeus, DAMN IT!" She yelled. Every person in the room flinched. "I'm going to kill those bastards! Ever year they pull the same damn prank. It's so old, it's getting exhausting!"

She was pacing around, her arms raised, fists clenched.

"I'm getting my knife," she continued, heading for our bedroom. My eyes widened.

"Oh, Styx," I muttered, "No, no, Annabeth, honey, come back!" I followed her.

"Daddy..." Andrea called nervously after me.

In the room, Annabeth was crying on the bed.

"Annabeth, honey."

"The son of a bitch doesn't care!" She hollered at me.

I put my arms on her shoulder. "Yes, I know, shh. The kids can hear you."

"I don't give a damn, Percy! Why can't we have any peace, any moments of joy without it being ruined by...by something!"

"Shut up, Annabeth!" I cried now, my voice raised. "You knew damn well our lives weren't going to be perfect when we got married!"

Tears streamed down her cheeks.

"I know that, Percy, but I didn't know it would be this hard!" She was desperate. Her smart brain couldn't comprehend any logical reasons to the "why us?" question.

"It's me! Of course it's going to be hard!" I responded.

Annabeth raised her fists and slammed them on my chest. Not really hard, just a frustrated smack.

"I don't know how much more I can take, Percy! I don't know if I can make this work!"

"Then why haven't you left me?" I challenged.

"Dammit, Percy! Because I love you! I love you Percy, what the Hades are you saying, exactly?!"

Her features showed indignation, anger, and still some sadness. I wrapped her in a hug.

"Nothing, you just needed to say that, and I needed to hear it as much as you did"

Annabeth's sobs increased as she buried her head in my shoulder.

"Oh, gods, Percy! What am I doing to myself?" She lamented woefully. "I'm just so frustrated! I...it's...I...let's just...let's just..."

I gave her a quick kiss.

"How about we just have a great rest of the day, okay?"

She nodded, letting me guide her back to the living room, drying the tears from her puffy red cheeks. I hated seeing Annabeth like this. I loved her so much more than anything.

"I'm sorry everyone," Annabeth apologized as we reentered the room. "I just...I'm sorry, no excuses. I overreacted. Just forgive me and let's continue with opening gifts."

My mom beamed proudly at me. After everyone told Annabeth that it was fine, she promptly took the handcuffs and tossed them in the fireplace.

"Thalia, would you be kind enough to give me a spark over here?"

"My pleasure," Thalia grinned. The logs caught fire, slowly melting the metal.

That's the funny thing about problems. You can run, trying to get away from them your entire life, but you can't. They're impossible to avoid. But, you can overcome them when they arrive, and that's just what Annabeth and I would have to do every time.