A/N: I think this is one of my favs. It's kinda futuristic, and it's like a prequal/sequal to my story Sneak Attack.

Balancing the laundry basket on my hip, I grabbed the knob to my bedroom. Twisting the cool metal in my hands, the door opened to reveal Paul and Percy sitting side by side on Paul's half of the bed. Paul seemed to be trying to give Percy a pep-talk of some sort.

I smiled. I loved seeing Paul and Percy spending time together. Almost simultaneously, they both turned to the door and said, "Hi Mom/Sally."

Setting the laundry basket down on the floor, I walked over to the bed, kissed Paul, then Percy. I sat down on the other side of Percy and put my arm around my son.

"What are you two up to?" I asked, smiling as I played with Percy's hair.

Paul smirked. "Hero of the world is chicken!" He checked his watch and jumped up. "Crap! Meeting with the principal in three minutes!" He ran out of the room, yelling, "Be back soon!" over his shoulder.

"So Percy, what were you and Paul up to?" Surprisingly, Percy went red.

"Well, um..." He sighed, then reached into his pocket and drew out a small velvet box. Opening it, I caught my breath. Nestled inside was the most beautiful ring I had ever seen. There were diamonds of two different colors (red and normal), and they were arranged in a heart shape. On the inside of the ring the words, "I luv u 4 ever" were carved in.

I looked at Percy and smiled.

Looking at his knee's, Percy mumbled, "The, uh, diamonds are from Mt. St. Helens. Where we had our... first kiss."

I got what this was about now. "She'll say yes Percy, no doubt about it."

Percy jumped. "W-what? Who said anything about having anything to say yes to?"

"Percy, I know you better then to think that this is just a gift."

"It might be. It might be just a gift. It'll make a very nice 'just a gift'."

I chuckled. "Why are you so scared? She loves you, you love her. In all honesty, I think Annabeth is getting impatient that you haven't asked her yet."

Percy sagged down in his seat. "Yeah, I know. I just... I don't know."

I chuckled again; Percy could make me crack up without even trying. "You're my little hero: it will be fine." I squeezed his shoulder. "Are you a little excited?"

"Well... I do want to be married to her."

"So, what's holding you back?"

"Old doubts."

"Throw those old doubts out the window."

"But they're part of my childhood!"

"Pfft. Who cares about your child hood? You'll always be my little hero."

"AA! Mom! OK ok, I'M GOING! No mushy huggy kissy stuff 'kay? You're smothering me."

I laughed again as Percy left. "Tell me how it goes!"