Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Chapter 4: Katie Gardner
Katie was watering the plants at her house when she saw a picture. It was on the ground, as if saying 'pick me up' over and over again, until someone actually picked it up. She bent down and reached over for the picture, noticing a man and a woman in the photo.
Mr. Gardner and someone else. Katie realized that this was her father. She ran downstairs, bumping into her stepmother on the way. Forgetting to say sorry, she picked up the picture and continued making her way to her father in a hurry.
"Dad!" Katie yelled, grasping the photo in her hand.
"Yes?" Mr. Gardner answered, looking at his daughter in confusion.
"Who's this?" Katie demanded, handing the photo over to her father.
Mr. Gardner stared at the picture for a few seconds, shock evident on his face. "Where did you find this?"
"Upstairs."
Staring into her father's eyes, Katie watched him carefully, wondering if the picture was one of his lovers... She wrinkled her nose in disgust. That was a really disturbing and disgusting thought, she knew.
"So who is it?" Katie repeated her question in a different form.
"I-It's your mother," Mr. Gardner said before sighing.
"My mother?" Katie looked confused and surprised.
Nodding, Mr. Gardner continued: "She's a gardener in New York."
Now Katie looked excited. She already had an idea growing in her mind. "Can we go see her?"
"No."
The answer came too soon, and they both knew it.
"Why not?" Katie continued badgering her father with questions.
Because she's a goddess, Mr. Gardner wanted to say, but he knew he couldn't. It wouldn't be safe. His daughter looked up at him with a confused expression.
"She- She's," Mr. Gardner struggled for words as he spoke, and eventually found the right ones. "We can't because we don't have enough money to go to New York."
And with those words spoke, Mr. Gardner left, leaving a confused and hurt Katie behind, an unspoken question of 'why can't she come here?' left behind.
When her father left, Katie stared at the photo again. She traced her mother's face and looked at herself in the mirror. She saw her own face reflected on it. She looked like her mother.
"What happened?" Katie whispered as she stared at the photo.
They looked so happy; Katie really did want to know what happened. But looking at her father walking away quite stiffly, she didn't. She gripped the picture in her hand; it was the only picture she had of her mother after all.
The only connection she had to the gardener was a picture. Katie placed the picture in her pocket, treasuring it, until the day she would meet her mother.
A/N: This isn't my best one, I know it, but I hoped you all enjoyed this chapter anyway. If any of you have any suggestions or ideas, please tell me. Sorry for the late update, and thanks for all the support!
Lemariz: Thanks, I appreciate it. And also, no, I don't think I'll do Nico, what you said made sense.
ChristieLaurenn: Thank you, I'm glad this kind of helped.