Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Family fluff mostly nothing too bad this chapter
Word Count: 7520
Pairings: Eventual Nico/Percy, open for suggestions to other pairings
Disclaimer: I only own the plot and my OCs, I make no money off of this
Note: Completely AU, does not follow the books little mention of it possibly as in the past.
AN: I'm really really happy with all the favorites and alerts and the people who reviewed. Thanks so much you guys I'm glad a lot of you are giving the rewrite a chance and are enjoying it. So just an update, Wednesdays (PST) are looking like the time I'm more than likely to update as that's my on consistent day off. I'm still deciding if it'll be every week or every two weeks again this depends on how much I've had written out and edited so just know Weds I'm going to try and keep as my deadline. Also to those who are new if you haven't read the original version I had a few OCs that are going to be more involved this time around which is another reason why this took a while to get up trying to make everything connect. Also be warned unlike the first Forlorn Ocean it's going to be a bit a while until Percy meets Nico specifically but he may end up meeting other half-bloods sooner, so it'll be a slow build up.
Characters Ages:
Percy: 9
Josh: 12
Elijah & Noah: 8
Forlorn Ocean
Chapter II: Making Waves
Throughout the ride home Josh noticed that Percy kept looking down at his hands as he wrung them nervously in his lap and looked upset, he placed a hand on the younger one's shoulder making him look at him.
"Percy what's wrong?" Josh asked.
"I'm sorry," he sniffed which confused both Claire and Josh.
"What are you apologizing for? You didn't do anything wrong." Josh asked wanting to know why Percy felt the need he had to apologize. There was honestly no reason for the younger boy to do so.
"You got in trouble with your mom because of me," Percy replied upset looking down at his lap though he was startled when Josh started laughing, which made him even more confused, "w-why are you laughing? Shouldn't you be angry at me?"
"Percy I got in trouble with my mom then it's my fault, you had no involvement at all it was my choice. So I'm going to take my punishment which I'm kinda hoping isn't the rest of the year with no desserts as well." Josh asked looking at Claire who looked amused with a smirk on her face.
"We'll see," was all she said making Josh silently hope she was kidding, since he knew two little ones that would love to eat his dessert if he couldn't eat it.
"Come on mom it was for a good reason! Don't I get some slack?" Josh whined while Claire laughed.
"You gave me a heart attack Caelis, I'm sure that gets rid of any 'slack' you think you deserve."
"I couldn't just leave him on the beach! Who knows how long he would've been there! and please don't use my real first name it sounds so weird!"
"And you couldn't say, 'Mom stop the car I see something?' and no, I'm using your first name to get my point across mister."
"It was a spur of the moment!"
"At this moment I'm still considering withholding your desserts young man."
Percy had a small smile as he watched the two argue, though it hurt him when he realized that he wouldn't have anything like that anymore now that his mom was gone. He was thankful that Josh had found him and was taking him home with his own mom; but afterwards what was going to happen to him? He didn't know who his father was or if his father was even alive, the most he got from his mom was that he was a man that loved the sea which wasn't much to on.
He was pulled from his thoughts when Josh shook him gently and he realized that the car had stopped, and Josh was waiting for him to come out of the car. Sliding himself across the seat and out onto the driveway, he saw that he was in the outskirts of the main city where there were houses instead of apartments. The house itself looked nice not too large but a nice moderate size two story house, with the bricks both outside the house and a stairway to the wooden porch that was a mini hanging garden with all the plants. The white trim on the side and pillars complimented the house well with the grey roof on top where a brick chimney was seen.
The three made their way up to the door where Claire handed Josh and Percy some of the bags they had picked up allowing her to get the keys to open the door. Though now that they were closer to the door of them despite the storm that was still around them they heard yelling from inside. Josh had a knowing look while Claire had an annoyed one and quickly opened the door to see what was going on.
Her mouth dropped when she the first thing that caught her attention were the muddy foot prints on the floor along with dirt clods and grass, following the trail of dirt to the perpetrators and saw another adult about her age. His dark teal eyes held a fond yet exasperated look to the giggling light blonde haired boy he was holding upside down, as his short obsidian black hair was mussed up. Another dark haired boy grinned sheepishly standing next to the adult unperturbed by the whole thing a large smile on his own face as he was trying not to laugh. All three pairs of eyes turned towards the door when they heard it open and saw another three set of eyes staring right back at them, there was an awkward silence between the two groups. At least until the two by the unknown adult broke it.
"Hi mommy!" The twins chorused as Josh shut the door behind them and Percy stared.
"Josh!"
"Big Brother Josh!"
The two waved to Josh as the older boy looked at them in disbelief while Percy himself was staring at the two grinning widely, despite one of them being held upside down. He looked at Josh who was groaning as he buried his face in his hands while Claire looked stuck between horrified and angry at the whole thing.
"What did you two do?" Claire accused as she bemoaned her once clean hallways.
"You should see the garden! it has so many muddy puddles! it was fun jumping in them!" one of the twins said, he had light amber eyes with dark sunflower blonde hair laughing as he looked up at Josh, he had his arms throw out to exaggerate how big the puddles were.
"Yeah! and and the flowers were really happy to get more water they look even brighter than they did before it's really pretty! We made sure not to get mud on them though!" the other twin replied this one being the one held upside down having a darker hazel colored eyes but a lighter honey-blonde hair.
Josh could clearly see how much fun his brothers had if the muddy footprints in the house weren't subtle enough but there was also plenty of mud sticking to their shirts, hair, skin, arms pretty much everywhere yet the twins didn't seem bothered by it at all.
"They got in the backyard again didn't they?" Claire said as she walked over and grabbed the dark blonde haired boy by the back of his shirt hauling him up until they were eye level, "what did I tell you about do in that and bringing in mud in the house?"
"I swear I only looked away for a minute while I was making them peanut butter sandwiches!" The man defended, "they said they heard something outside and had to find it."
"Says the man who states he can't be taken by surprise and is on top of things not to mention know what's going on. What happened to those statements Zane dear??" Claire retorted dryly back giving the man an unimpressed look while the man laughed nervously.
"It was important! It was a flower that we didn't plant and we had to save it!" The blonde defended," besides you said we could clean up the garden with you! We just got a head start!"
"You couldn't wait until the storm was over?" Claire said frowning at the two just now noticing the darker blonde of the two holding a small pot with a barely blooming flower in it, " great now I have to talk to all three of you."
"Josh got in trouble? That's rare." Zane said turning the kid right side up and putting him down as Claire put the other twin down as well now that he wasn't trying to run away from him,the lighter blonde twin stood next to his brother as they stood in front of their parents, " and did you bring over a friend Josh?"
"Kinda." Josh said shrugging not wanting to go into exact detail on how he found Percy as the twins saw the new face and instantly zeroed in on Percy.
"Heeey big brother Josh who's that behind you?" the darker haired twin asked seeing Percy, he moved to the left side to see who Josh had brought" you actually made a new friend? All on your own? Wooww! Hi I'm Noah!"
"It's a miracle! Someone who didn't go running for the hills cuz of your angry scowl!" the lighter haired one added laughing as he moved to the other side of Josh to get a better look at the kid, "I'm Eli! Nice to meet you! Don't mind how grumpy Josh can be that's just his natural face."
"Hilarious aren't you two." Josh sarcastically at the two, he knew the twins were just being cheeky with him as they batted their eyes at Josh trying to pull of the angelic look which wasn't really working with their current muddy appearance. Claire cleared her throat catching their attention.
Though the twins flinched having forgotten that Claire was right in front of them, as they heard the deep growling coming from the woman. " I want you two to go upstairs and get in the bath right this instant before you catch a cold! And then you're helping me clean the mess you made!"
"But wouldn't that just make us dirty again?" Noah asked grinning.
"Yeah then wouldn't we have to take two baths!? That's just too much mom!" Eli added cheekily.
"Don't get smart with me you two now up before I haul you up there myself." Claire said firmly.
"Awww….okay mommy," the two said in unison pouting that they had to take bath early.
"When you two get done with all of that you can talk to Percy more and show him around okay?" Josh said to the two cheering them up, "but you have to listen to mom, take your baths with no trouble!"
"Okay!" two said scampering off up the stairs.
"Take off your shoes! I just said no more mud in the house you two!" Claire shouted after them and groaned when she only heard the door to the bathroom shut with the giggling twins behind it.
"I'll watch them and make sure they don't make a mess in the bathtub using all the bubbles again." Zane said as he kissed Claire's cheek and followed the twins.
"Please do Josh can you and Percy help me put the groceries away so I can then get the supplies to clean my poor floors," Claire sighed pinching the bridge of her nose trying to calm down about all the mud.
Percy nodded but couldn't help watch the twins run off, "Are they really your brothers?"
"They're my step-brothers," Joshua replied shrugging as he gently pulled Percy along to the kitchen where they helped her unpack the bags of food,"Zane had the twins before he married my mom."
"So Percy, what's your full name and how old are you exactly? You look rather young to be by yourself." Claire asked in the middle of putting away some juice in the fridge, rummaging through the bags separating the items.
"I'm nine years old , my birthday was yesterday. My full name is Perseus Jackson." Percy replied as he carried some bread and milk to the kitchen.
"I see, such a polite boy aren't you? well Percy can you tell me what you remembered how you got to the beach where Josh found you? If it gets too hard you can tell me what you can say." Claire said patiently storing away the milk as she took it from Percy and started on the eggs.
Percy nodded, and retold what had happened from coming out of the aquarium to going onto the bus to the accident, which surprised her since she had watched the news coverage about that yesterday and was concerned when Percy had said his mother was hurt badly.
"Percy, exactly how hurt was your mother and what happened to her?" Claire asked as she glanced at the dark haired boy who had gone quiet and sullen. She could see him gripping the loaf of bread in his hands tightly from the memory, but made no comment to stop him. She was more concerned on what exactly Percy saw what happened to his mother to scare him that much.
Percy bit his lips rather harshly and looked liked he was going to say something but changed his mind and replied that during the accident when everyone was getting out of the bus his mom had tried to pull him away from the crowd but they got pushed around and his mom had gotten hurt by one of the vehicles. He noticed how squished the bread looked and turned red apologizing profusely as he put the bread on the counter keeping his eyes down to the floor. He only looked up when Claire patted his head and took the bread as if nothing had happened putting it away with the rest of the food.
"I see, well Percy since you were in that accident we should make sure you're okay. You aren't hurt anywhere?" Claire asked getting a good look at him. She hadn't noticed Percy limping or nursing any particular body part close to him.
Percy shook his head, he felt fine. He was mostly still in shock of the incident that had happened he didn't exactly get hurt from the beast the most he had was a scrapped knee and elbow from when he fell onto the street but that was it.
"Alright guess tomorrow make a stop to the police to see if there's any family they can find for you to take in or if there's a missing child report." Claire said concerned, "do you know about your father or any other family members?"
"No , mom didn't say anything about dad except that she said he seemed to be a man of the sea and she never talked much about her other family." Percy replied shaking his head, "I can't stay here?"
"Well I'd love to Percy, but we just want to be sure we're not holding you back from any family that may look for you." Claire replied sadly as Percy sighed loudly, then ended up yawning," But you look exhausted why don't you take a nap for now I'll wake you up when it's time for dinner" she replied in a motherly voice as she noticed Percy having trouble staying awake.
"Okay" Percy said tiredly leaning against Josh as the older boy wrapped an arm around him.
"I"ll take him to my room and get him into some warm clothes, but does he really have to make a trip to the police? He seemed so sure there aren't any family left to take him in." Josh asked as he stood up with the exhausted Percy using him as support.
"I'm afraid so Josh, we can't hold a child here if they have family as sweet as he seems that's what we have to do. Though it was a terrible accident that had happened, so many cars piled up, many were injured the cause is unknown since no one really could tell what happened." Claire said shutting the door the pantry once the last of the groceries were done, "I'll give a heads up call to the station so hopefully it'll go a bit faster, take care of Percy okay? Pizza sound good?"
"Okay, and don't get all vegetables on the pizza like last time please." Josh replied heading back to his own room while Claire chuckled amused watching them go. Once the two were out of sight she picked up her cellphone and hit speed dial. She only had to wait for a single ring before the line was picked up.
"Hey, it's Claire can I ask a favor of you?" She asked softly, she waited for a reply and smiled relieved before speaking softly into the speaker. She spoke in a quiet tone for a bit before she hung up and nearly jumped when Zane was behind her, "Mother freaking...don't do that Zane I would've hit you!"
"I got the twins in their art smocks and they're almost done cleaning the hallways," Zane replied as if Claire wasn't glaring at him, "they're about finished, though who were you talking to? You hardly noticed either of us coming into the kitchen to get the supplies you know."
"Sorry sorry, it was just something about Percy's story him being in that accident and not having any other family apparently to his knowledge as me a bit concerned, I just wanted to give my co-workers a heads up and called in a favor as well." Claire replied as Zane hummed before he pulled Claire close and brushed his lips against her forehead,"there's something else isn't there?"
"I don't know just a feeling?" Claire replied helplessly as she leaned against her husband," you don't feel anything strange when it comes to Percy? I mean you're the one who told me about all these things when I got involved with you."
"You say that like it's a bad thing dear," Zane chuckled.
"Sometimes I think it is," Claire huffed," but I'm serious can't you I don't know give me any ideas or hints mister know it all and can read people like a book just with a single look?"
"Are you really going to quote everything I've said to you?" Zane asked in an annoyed affectionate way.
"Payback," was all Claire counted back and poked Zane's chest,"now anything?"
"Now where would the fun be in that? Isn't it more fun to see what happens rather than know everything from the start?" Zane laughed cuddling his cute redhaired wife," I guess I can say this for now, when you pulled up I could feel a strong presence near you and I wasn't sure what to think until I saw it was that young boy. I'm not sure what exactly it is but I get the feeling he may be like our kids but not exactly."
"That's not cryptic at all." Claire scowled while Zane kept his mouth shut but was smiling at Claire, "stupid mysterious know it all weirdo."
"And you love me for it," Zane snickered,"don't worry Claire we'll take care of anything that comes our way, now let's get a snack ourselves alright? I still have the kid's peanut butter sandwiches we can eat.'
"DADDY! THOSE ARE OUR SNACKS!" the two heard the twins wail in the hallway before they heard them running in the hallways towards them.
"Half?" Zane shrugged holding out half a sandwich to Claire who rolled her eyes but took it anyway munching on it while the twins tried tackling their dad to get the other half.
Josh wasn't surprised moments later when he got into his room the pair of twins Eli and Noah walked in after him a few minutes later once he was inside. Percy was barely awake when Josh helped him out of his wet clothes tossing them into the laundry basket and putting Percy in a shirt and pants he had outgrown, before he put Percy on the bed. Percy was fast asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow with the blanket was pulled over him tucking him in.
"So you found him Big Brother?" Eli asked as he was munching on his sandwich, "he looks so sad when he came in to talk to mom, is he going to be okay?"
"He's a cute little thing though," Noah added moving closer to Percy as the young boy unconsciously curled up more into the blankets until you could only see his mop of black hair poking out of the blankets,"awwww!"
" He's a year older than you munchkins." Josh commented flicking Noah's head making the lighter blonde yelp and back away from Percy," and leave him alone he's look like he needs to rest after whatever happened, now what were you two really doing in the garden besides muddy puddles?"
"Ehehe you know us too well Josh," Eli said rubbing the back of his head, "we were helping the flowers grow, we forgot to tend to the weeds again in the veggie patch so I worked on that while Noah uhm...encouraged the flowers to bloom."
"And the flower?" Josh asked noticing that the pot wasn't in Noah's hands anymore probably sitting on the window sill, "what's so special about that?"
"I don't know, we just felt she was sad and lonely, it was covered behind a bush in some of the overgrow mom and daddy hadn't gotten to yet." Elijah replied," we couldn't just leave her alone like that."
"That doesn't mean Zane couldn't see you or at least help you," Josh said looking concerned at the twins shifting nervously in front of him,"I know you two have this weird second nature to anything relating to plants but your dad is fine with it."
"We know, but daddy was tired from work and we didn't want to bother him so we asked him to make us a snack while we snuck outside," Eli replied looking at Josh who sighed and patted Eli's head.
"You two are too nice sometimes, worry about your own health would you?" Josh asked looking down at the two who gave him pouts.
"Look's who's talking big brother, you know we can hear you from our room sometimes when you get angry." Eli replied softly, glancing around his brother's room.
There was a large desk with a desktop on it, posters of different musicians hung on the wall with pictures of the family as well. A well taken care of guitar sat in the corner with papers scattered around it but what Eli was really looking at was a very used punching bag stand on the other side of the room. There were tears along the lines that was repaired with duct tape to keep it intact, the wall behind it had a few dents where the bag had probably impacted hard enough.
"You should take of yourself too and talk to us. We wanna help you big brother," Eli mumbled as he took his brother's hand and it was faint but you could still see some redness on Josh's knuckles.
The twins didn't say anything but just moved closer to the older boy and wrapped their arms around him giving comfort to him, they had moved into Josh's home with their new mom. The two believed something had happened to their new big brother and no matter how much prodding, begging, bribing they tried he still wouldn't say what happened. They knew he loved Claire and eventually got use to their dad Zane, so it wasn't either of them.
But they could see the obvious pain in their brother's eyes sometimes as he would play with the two rings that hung around his neck or at night he would take his frustration and anger at what happened on the punching back.
It wasn't like Josh was alone, he was pretty popular at school and got along with most of the other students, it was just sometimes when their mom to picked them up from school how Josh would be talking to others, but his smile never seemed to reach his eyes. He was friendly but he always seemed to always have a wall from allowing anyone else to get too close. Claire was worried about Josh, but Josh had continuously assured her that he just wanted to concentrate on his school work but he did manage to appease her by promising to look into some after school activities.
"Big brother why won't you tell us what happened?" Noah asked tugging on Josh's shirt, "we wanna help, we're brothers now!"
"If you're worried about people trying to tell us anything bad about you, nobody's ever gunna ever change our minds," Eli stated firmly squeezing the older boy tighter, burying his head in the brunette's side, " you're our family Josh and that's that."
"What Eli, said. We're not gunna listen to what anyone says about you cuz they don't know you we know you." Noah stated gripping Josh tightly, "so no more sad thoughts or we'll figure out a way to get fertilizer in your boxers!"
Josh couldn't help but laugh at the absurd but amusing gesture, he mussed up the two making them release him once they were sure that Josh wasn't going to go into one of his angry or depressed moods because of how some of the older kids treated him.
"I'll keep that in mind, but really it's nothing you need to worry about alright? I can handle this." Josh assured the twins who gave the older darker haired boy sullen looks making him ruffle their hairs.
"So what's gunna happen with Percy?" Noah asked, "is he staying here with us?"
"Don't know, tomorrow mom is taking him to the police to see if he has any family that he doesn't know about, he was in that big accident that happened yesterday." Josh explained.
"I hope he stays, he seems shy but looks really really nice." Eli said smiling, "then we can have someone else to play with!"
"Right just keep your pranks to yourself," Josh replied, looking back at Percy and not wanting to leave him alone, "I'm going to stay here until he wakes up, you guys go do your worksheets. Mom will get mad if she finds out you didn't do your homework."
The twins made faces at the worksheets but they were quite content staying in the room so they went to their room through the shared bathrooms between their rooms quickly and grabbed their workbooks before coming back and sitting on the floor using the bed as a backrest as they started to work. Josh grabbed a book for himself from his shelf that was tagged, glancing at Percy one more time before he drawn into his book.
oOo Some time later… oOo
Percy was tossing and turning in the bed, small whimpers escaping his mouth before he gasped and sat straight up breathing heavily. He sniffed a bit as his whole body was shaking from the nightmare clutching the blankets tightly. Closing his eyes Percy was about to curl up again when there was something that smelled good making him open his ocean blue eyes, the first thing he saw were a pair of hazel and amber staring back at him. Surprised at the closeness of the twins the dark haired child yelped in surprised as the two pairs pulled back before he saw something brown a blurry appear in front of his face.
"Joshy had to help mommy with something so he asked us to take care of you until he came back!" one twin said grinning, Percy trying to recall the name he believed the darker haired one was Noah. "I think he was going to ask her a few things, I think it involved you going with them tomorrow."
"We thought you would be hungry and brought in a sandwich! it's just peanut butter and jelly cuz it's one of our favorites! Next to a BLT. Mom said that we'd order pizza when you're up." the other twin said who had to be Eli, "Josh said your name is Percy it's nice to meet you!"
"Uh y-yes? And you're the twins from earlier right?" Percy said not sure how to take how forward the twins were as they continued grinning at him and abruptly jumped onto the bed he was on, Percy fumbled not to drop the sandwich as the twins seemed honestly interested in him. Having only his mother for a friend growing up, he did try to make friends with other kids his age when he went to school but he was accident prone not to mention incidents that would happen when would get angry and there was a water source nearby.
"Yup! We're Elijah and Noah Leolin!" the twins said in unison,"we're both seven, how old are you?"
"Nine, I just turned nine yesterday." Percy replied as he nibbled on the peanut butter sandwich, relishing in having something in his stomach.
"Yesterday was your birthday?" Noah and Eli said their eyes going big and Percy blinked when all of a sudden it was raining a plethora of different colored petals around him, "Happy Birthday!"
He stared in mute amazement at the petals, reaching out and touching the ones that landed in his palm turning to the twins in shock, "How did you do that? There aren't any plants in the room!? you made it rain flower petals?"
"Ah, that's a special thing we can do but uh don't tell Josh we messed up his room…again." Eli said suddenly looking nervous at the petals that now littered the room, "we kinda have a bad habit of just making stuff happen with plants we don't mean to, at least half the time…"
"Hahaha so kinda wanna help us clean up Percy? Please?" Noah asked as Eli had already dived head first under Josh's bed and pulled out a broom and dustpan giving Percy a sheepish look, "we have a tendency to make a mess and Josh made us keep supplies close."
Percy couldn't help it but he broke out laughing at the twin's antics, they were so full of energy and so random that he didn't know if they were doing this on purpose or if it really was a tendency. Whatever they did do though Percy had to appreciate it, he had been feeling sad, exhausted and a bit hopeless. But within a seconds of meeting the strange twins he was feeling comfortable around them as he put down the sandwich and started to help them clean up the petals all over the room.
When the door opened the three of them froze as Josh walked in and looked at the three of them with an eyebrow raised, the twins looked like they were caught with their hands in the cookie jar while Percy looked a bit nervous as well but not quite sure what to do.
Glancing around he saw the room was mostly intact though he did see a few flower petals on the ground that weren't there before which turned his attention back to the twins.
"What'd you do this time? I told you no more raining petals in the room when you're bored." Josh said exasperated as if hadn't explained this a hundred times already.
"But we had a good reason this time Josh! Yesterday was Percy's birthday and we had to celebrate it somehow!" Noah replied as he dumped the flowers inside a bag.
"I...I didn't mind really? It was a nice surprise so please don't be mad at them Josh." Percy spoke up gripping the broom tightly. The twins ran to either side of Percy and hugged him the three of them giving Josh the most adorable eyes making the older one groan.
"Alright alright knock off the eyes okay? Percy are you okay now that you're up?" Josh asked moving closer as he felt his head, "you don't feel like you have a fever but you weren't coughing or was shivering when you were napping were you?"
"N-no, I was fine honestly. The twins did bring me a sandwich to snack on and I didn't realize I was really hungry until now," Percy replied giving the worried pre-teen an assuring smile,"did Mrs. Claire want to talk to me?"
"Kinda, but only if you're ready. Right now it's more about arrangements really since we can't do anything until tomorrow when we get a better idea of what's going to happen," Josh said as he wrapped an arm around Percy's shoulder, "come on so we can properly introduce you to mom, and Zane."
Percy nodded as he held his plate following Josh, Noah, Eli out of the room and into the kitchen where Zane and Claire had been talking but the conversation came to a stop when they saw the new resident of the house wake up.
"Hello Percy how are you feeling?" Claire asked.
"I'm fine Mrs. Claire Josh asked me the same thing and didn't feel sick at all honestly." Percy replied, "thank you for taking me in."
"Don't worry about it Percy." Claire chuckled patting his head, "well you've probably already got to know the twins and Josh, I'm Claire and this is my husband Zane he'll be here if I have to work since my hours are varied at times."
"Hello Percy, kind of a funny first impression holding Elijah upside down huh? but it's nice to meet you, so now that the ice is broken what do you feel like for pizza?" Zane asked grinning as he held up a cellphone.
Percy laughed feeling himself become less nervous and more at ease with the family that just found him and took him in, it was weird just yesterday he felt his whole world just slip from right under his feet when he lost his mother. Of course it was going to ages before he fully accepted and healed what happened but he hoped he would get to stay with the people who had taken him in after tomorrow, though for some odd reason he still wondered who his father was and if if things would be different if he had taken him in, instead of him being found by Josh and his family.
oOo The next Day oOo
"Why does he have to go to the police again Josh?" Eli asked as he and Noah have yet to let go of Percy since he woke up and came down the stairs, as they sat at the table the next morning as Claire was flipping pancakes and Zane was cutting up some fruit, "he's not in trouble is he?"
"No he's not in trouble but it's something we have to do what do you think Percy? Are you nervous?" Josh asked as for once the sea-eyed child looked up at him and not faltering or looking nervous like he had previously. He was helping Claire and Zane set the table while the younger ones munched on some fruit placed in front of them, Zane did toss of the fruits he cut into the pancake batter though a few of them he 'missed' by accident hitting Clare making the woman flick some pancake batter at the darker haired man.
"I want to do it now, maybe...maybe they'll find my dad. But Josh? What if they don't find anyone that can take me in?" Percy asked frightened feeling the twins grip on him getting tighter feeling his fear.
"If there's no one that can take you in you already have a home here already kiddo," Zane chuckled getting the pancake batter out of his hair as he snatched one of the pancakes on the plate, "and if I know Claire she's already got something done about looking for your family. Going to the police station is just getting the information and somewhat a formality."
"Why can't they just call about it then? Why does Percy have to do a whole trip into the city for that?" Josh asked frowning putting some pancakes on his plate and passing it to the twins after giving some to Percy, showing him the different syrups and fruit he could put on his pancakes.
"I have to go to work so I'm keeping Percy with me since you three have to go to school, he's not registered in your school so I have to figure out what school he came from and get transfer papers. Zane's going to go with you to drop you off," Claire said giving Josh a look as she rested her hands on her hips as she turned the stove off, "and don't think I've forgotten about your little excursion all three of you, I've left a list of chores for all three of you when you get home to do all of them by the time Percy and I get home."
"Yes mom," Elijah, Noah and Josh groaned out as Claire continued with a list making sure they grabbed everything for their school and classes before they ate so they wouldn't forget anything, she kept a sharp eye on Percy making sure he was eating something. She made a note to have a doctor's appointment scheduled to be sure Percy was really alright even if the child hadn't said anything of being in pain.
"Don't worry Percy, Claire's work place is friendly as long as you're not a criminal." Zane said assuring Percy," you'll probably actually have fun there, just try not to get pulled into prank wars between the fire department and the police station, it's a running gag for years since the Chief of Police and the Head of the fire department are old friends."
Zane leaned closer to Percy in a conspiring whisper, "The latest prank went viral when the fire department did the old box trap with a dozen doughnuts in a box inside of it."
"We got those doughnuts eventually and only one of us had to lose our dignity," Claire sniffed, "it's a horrible waste of doughnuts to be just left out and we got them in the end."
"Sure honey, keep telling yourself that." Zane chuckled before looking back down at Percy, "she was the one that had to get the doughnuts since she pulled the short straw."
"Hush you, eat your breakfast so we can start our day," Claire grumbled an embarrassed flush on her face as she sat down next to Zane. She made sure to grab some fruits and pancakes for herself while the conversation continued with the small family. It wasn't long until everyone was done and cleaning the dishes that they headed out, while it was still raining outside it wasn't as bad had been yesterday, the twins had lent Percy some of their clothes since he was about the same size of them if just a bit bigger.
Claire kissed her boys good bye watching the twins and Josh get in Zane's car as Zane got in as well before driving off. Claire helped Percy into her car as she took him to work though the trip to the police station was nerve wracking for Percy as he gripped his pants tightly, frightened whether it be the fact that the Police may find someone in his family or wouldn't. All he knew was his mother and it was hard to believe all of that slipped from underneath him in an instant, Claire gave him a kind look as she drove on. Once they got there Percy stayed completely by Claire's side as she walked up to the front desk and explained the situation with Percy while the young boy was trying not to get upset.
As he listened with half an ear to the conversation he saw a piece of paper handed over to Claire along with a file that she was going through, there was a grim sort of look on her face as she looked sadly at Percy, confirming his fears that his mother really was gone though he looked at her with some sign of hope but she shook her head. Percy leaned against Claire his whole body shaking as he tried not to cry, but it was hard knowing the reality that he didn't have his mother around anymore and no other family as well.
"You couldn't find anyone?" Claire asked quietly running her hand through Percy's hair as the scared child clung to her leg, "not a single clue to his father is?"
"There literally is nothing we could find currently in our system, I've sent the rest of the results to your email to go over. I don't know if those would be any help, even if you do a DNA test I don't know if even that would show results." Her co-worker replied,"we'll keep you updated if anything comes up since you seem so taken with him."
"Thanks anyway, guess I'll take a look of that later," Claire sighed gently pulling Percy along with her as she took him down to her office where she got to work on a few things while Percy kept to himself, hardly making a peep now that the reality was true. Claire was worried and kept trying get Percy to talk more, she introduced him to her coworkers who he politely talked to but didn't seem much of a conversationalist but he did try. She decided to take Percy out for lunch as the skies were clearing up, it would probably be good to get some fresh air.
"We're heading out for lunch boss, be back in a half hour." Claire called as she walked by her superior's desk as he was typing up a report, Percy nodding in her superior's direction but hadn't said a word.
"Avoid the Deli on the corner, try the cafe down the street if you want to try something new. They also have some good fruit smoothies that'll be good for the kid and some snacks too he could bring back as well." He replied not once looking up from his keyboard.
Claire laughed as she saluted him," Got it boss, I'll be sure to grab your special blend of coffee from said cafe as well. Come on Percy he may not seem like it but he has very good tastes in food and places to eat."
"Okay…" Percy replied taking Claire's hand following her outside of the department.
The sun was coming out as the clouds were slowly moving away, allowing the bright rays to shine through the raindrops diminishing before disappearing completely. The two walked in silence Claire trying not to say anything that might upset the already distraught child as Percy was so confused and lost what was going to happen now, once they got to the cafe that Claire's boss was talking about they took a seat by the window after ordering a smoothie and tea for Percy and herself with sandwiches. She had tried to get him to look the desserts hoping the sight of them would make him even a smidge happier, but he just gripped her hand tighter not responding much.
"Percy I know you're scared and sad," Claire said finally, the silence suffocating her and determined to cheer the child up next to her, "You're hurting badly about losing your mother and just because we never found anything on your dad doesn't mean he's not somewhere."
"I guess so but what am I going to do now with no family ?" Percy sniffed as the tears he had been holding back since the police station broke the barriers holding them back and were freefalling down his face," my mom's gone...she's the only one I ever knew."
"Remember what Josh told you this morning? You may of lost your mother, but I'm more than happy to take you in. I mean Josh said he got a feeling that you were meant to be found, maybe not like that but what matters is you do have a home Percy. Even if it was only for a day the twins already adore you, Josh is protective, Zane and I always wanted a big family, sure it may not be perfect with how busy we can get sometimes. With my odd hours of working at the police station since I work days and could end up being there for an extended amount of time and Zane himself is a language teacher at a high school school. Why I'm telling you this is, even if we're not there you'll always have us just like you'll have your mom maybe not with you but always in your heart."
"You really meant it when you said you'd take me in," Percy asked looking at Claire, he knew she said it a few times even Josh had insisted she would there was always that little voice of doubt in the back of his head telling him they were just saying that to make him feel better.
Claire gave her a small smile and wrapped an arm around Percy's shoulder pulling him close hugging him comfortingly, the little one held tightly to her uniform burying his face in her side as his shoulders shook as he cried. Claire just held him, running a hand through his hair letting him finally release all the pent up tears and grief he had for the past day.
"It's going to be alright Percy, we'll be your new family you don't have to call me mom you can just call me Auntie." Claire said, hugging the boy. She had put the papers through, and got everything in order; there was something telling her that the boy she brought into her family was meant for something much more important, and she was going to support him in whatever endeavors he goes into. Something telling her she had helped Percy take the first step in whatever may lay before him in the future, and that she would find out who exactly Percy was.
