WARNING!: A smidge graphic, but nothing too much to handle. (this is where the + in "K" comes in.)

I switched POV's more than I wanted to this chapter, but it's how I wrote it a little bit back and I didn't want to change it too much. It'll start with Percy, fade into Annabeth, and so on and so forth. :)

Peace, Love, and God bless!

(two or three more parts after this)

~Hannah

A bright light flashed in my eyes, making them sting. Voices and noise and motions still ran together with no look of stopping. "Mr. Jackson? Mr. Jackson, can you hear me? You've had a heart attack, Mr. Jackson?"

A heart attack.

How…soothing, I thought sarcastically. It hurt to breathe, like someone was sitting on top of me. My chest started to ping over and over again, and an erratic beeping sounded next to me.

"He's going into cardiac arrest – start CPR now!"

I closed my eyes and drifted off again to avoid hearing or seeing anything else.

In what felt like my last moments, I said a small prayer. Not to the Olympians. Not to anyone in general. Just a prayer. A prayer for Annabeth, a prayer for Hayley, my future grandkids.

I even said one for Clarisse and Athena, my father.

My mind caught, much like a voice would, at my mother, and at that point I couldn't take it anymore.

I couldn't just lay here and let myself die. I had to fight back. For Annabeth…for Hayley…for Luke and Audrick and Chelsea…Paul and Poseidon…Chiron…Mom…Annabeth…

My body went slack and numb. I couldn't think anymore.

I couldn't even muster the strength to fight.

Annabeth's POV:

You don't think about much when your husband or loved one is dying. You don't consider the fact that you might be putting everyone, including a five year old son, in danger by driving down I-20 faster than a speeding bullet.

"Mom," Hayley mumbled nervously from beside me, "I think you should let me drive…"

"Or me," Tommy offered.

"Me, or Chelsea, or Carter," Audrick continued.

"I volunteer," Jamie said, though we both knew that her expanded stomach wouldn't allow such to happen. One glance in the mirror confirmed that.

Luke smiled wide and clapped his hands. "Lukey drive, Lukey drive!" he chanted, and I wanted to laugh. I wanted to laugh so badly, we all did.

Not a one of us managed it, though.

"Mom…"Chelsea's voice was small. "Is Dad…?"

I didn't answer.

I didn't know.

And if we've learned one thing about me, it's that I can't stand to not know.

"He'll be fine," I finally muttered, tensely grasping the wheel, my knuckles turning white.

"Mom?" Hayley said, her eyes wide. "Mom. Mama. Mama, look out!" She snatched the wheel to the side, right before we crashed head on with another vehicle.

"I…I didn't even see it," I said, trying to be defensive.

"Pull over," she said, softly at first.

"Hayley Moonlight, I'm fine."

"Pull – over."

"I said I'm fi –"

"Mama, pull – over – NOW." We glared at each other for a moment after that, but I knew I just didn't have the strength or the will to argue. I turned on my blinker and pulled over on the side of the road. Hayley looked particularly satisfied as she took off her seat belt.

"Thank you," she smirked, and I rolled my eyes, switching places with her. Right then I felt like one of Apollo's magical cows: big, red, and stupid.

Hayley drove so slow it was almost mocking, as if she wasn't worried.

I should've known better, though. I could see the creases in her forehead, her eyebrows scrunched together just like Percy's. I believe she was holding the wheel tighter than I was, if that was possible.

"So, Carter," Hayley smiled, trying to spark up conversation. "Why don't you tell Mom about the names we've picked out for the babies?"

Carter smiled back. "Well," he said, "if it's a girl we're definitely going to name her Elizabeth, after Ellie." The whole car got silent for a moment, before he swallowed and continued, "And if we're blessed with a boy or two, we were thinking one named after Percy,"

"Such as Perseus Carter Stoll," Hayley explained, and I nodded stiffly.

"They sound like wonderful names." I tried for a smile, but it just wasn't in me. Not now.

Chelsea sighed wistfully. "I can't wait to have a baby."

Hayley and Jamie laughed. "Yeah, you can," Hayley said.

"Being pregnant is worse than torture in the Fields of Punishment," Jamie exclaimed, a smile on her face.

"Especially during the summer," I commented. "Have you ever tried to get around in above 100 weather with a big weight in your front?"

"Hey, wait a minute. What's today's date?" Jamie asked, a nervous look coming over her.

"August 18th," Hayley answered absently, "why?"

"Because I think my water just broke a week early."

If you've never seen Audrick almost pass out, it's not a pretty sight. Luke sniffed the air and pinched his nose. "Eew!" he squeaked, rolling down the window. "That smells nassy!"

"Nasty," I corrected out of habit.

"Mom, how much longer until we get to the hospital?" Audrick was bouncing up and down, couldn't seem to sit still, as Jamie continued to bite her lip and squeeze Audrick's hand. She'd been having contractions for the past week or so, and I could only imagine how intense they must've been right then, in a minivan completely compacted with people.

I calculated it in three seconds. "Ten minutes, if not sooner."

"Crap!" Hayley suddenly shouted, right as we veered off an exit to St. Augustine and came to bumper to bumper traffic. "Pardon my French, Lukey. Make that fifteen, twenty minutes. If we're lucky."

"Audrick?" Jamie whispered, and I just barely heard. "This baby isn't going to wait that long…" Just then she bit her thumb to keep from crying out, and her body lurched forward, her eyes squinted together in pain.

"There's got to be some place closer – Carter!" Audrick turned to his brother-in-law, his face constricted with worry. "Isn't Aunt Kate like a pediatrician or something?"

"Use some sense, ding-a-ling," Hayley shouted to the very back seat. "Pediatricians don't deliver babies they treat them."

"I know that," he snapped back. "But she'd probably know what to do!"

"EV'WE ONE STOP YELLIN!" Luke yelled, covering his ears, his jet black hair falling in his face. "I can't hear me'self think."

"She might, but I think she's…Hayley, quick, take the next right!"

"Why?"

"Because I just saw Mom's car! I think she's stopping at the gas station. Aw, thank God!"

Hayley looked to me. "Is it okay if we…?"

I nodded. I didn't want to miss the birth of Audrick's first child, my second grandchild. It just wasn't going to happen. I'm not sure what had come over me, but suddenly, I just felt like Percy would be okay, and I had different matters to attend to.

Taking the right not moments later, we slid into the gas station just before Katie got back in her car. "Mom!" Carter shouted from the window.

"Aunt Kate!" Audrick called. He'd always done that, even though he wasn't really her nephew in blood or anything.

"Hey, guys," she waved and smiled at us. Hayley stopped the car suddenly, Audrick throwing the door open and hopping out before we even got put in park. He grabbed Katie's hands as Jamie slid out of the car, quivering in pain.

"Can you deliver a baby?"

Katie's eyes narrowed and her brow furrowed, and she examined Jamie up and down. "Um…maybe."

"Go-good," Jamie panted, releasing her death grip on the sliding car door handle. "Maybe is…is all we…we need."

Katie took a deep breath. "Okay, okay, um, Annabeth, is there a pair of scissors in your car?"

"I gots some!" Luke shouted, handing them up to us, and I grinned a little. Leave it to the five year old. "Here ya go, Mommy."

"Thanks, Lukey," I took the scissors and handed them to Katie, who shooed Chelsea inside to go wash them thoroughly. "Get a bowl, or some big container of warm water, too! And a rag!" She added, her face becoming grim.

"Jamie?"

"Ye-yeah?"

"I need to check you first and…" she trailed off, and Jamie just nodded. "Not here. As soon as Chelsea gets back, we need to go over to the side of the road, perhaps hidden in a thick collection of branches or something. Delivering her here would just make a huge scene."

We could only nod as Chelsea came dashing back out, carrying the scissors in a plastic bag, a rag next to it. "I'll have to go back in for the container," she panted, running back into the store, and coming out a moment later.

Without a word, we all took our positions back in the van, Katie following us to the closest thicket of trees.

"You ready?" Katie smiled and grabbed Jamie's hand, giving a comforting squeeze. She nodded.

"Push!"

Jamie's POV:

"Ahhhhhh!" I screamed, biting my lip so hard I tasted blood. I'd never imagined I'd give birth on the side of the road in a mini-van. But there I was, Katie and Annabeth in front of me, Hayley on the other side dampening my face with a wet rag, and Audrick, who looked more clueless than I'd ever seen anyone look.

"Jamie," Katie looked at me. "She's almost here. I need you to push again."

I kept biting my lip and shook my head fiercely. "No," I mumbled. "I can't."

"Jamie, honey, please," Hayley said, looking into my eyes. "Trust me, it'll be so worth it once she's in your arms."

"Push, please," Annabeth said, her smile fragile but warm and comforting.

"Jamie." All I had to do was meet Audrick's eyes and feel his grip on my hand. "Listen to me. If there was ever any person on this earth that could do this, it's you. No one else is as strong as you are, and I know that this wasn't in your – our – plan, but please. I need you to do this. She, if it's a she, needs you do this. Please, for us all, okay?" He nodded, and I nodded, and I took a deep breath.

Screaming was all I could understand, the only thing that even particularly made sense at that point. "Come on, come on, come on…" Audrick mumbled beside me.

Then there was a cry that wasn't my own, and I felt like I could relax.

Katie wiped the sweat off her brow as she placed a wiggling, warm baby on my chest, and I'll tell you one thing – I had never felt so right than in that moment, right there, a daughter in my arms and my husband by my side. I didn't care that we were in a mini-van or on the side of the road for all passing cars to see us.

"Scissors," Katie turned to Chelsea, who handed her the scissors. She got Audrick's mesmerized attention. "Does the father wish to cut the cord?" she asked, smiling, and Audrick looked between me and his mother as if wanting us to answer for him. I smiled and nodded fast. Which, in turn, made him smile and nod fast. Katie grinned and gave him the scissors, and he cut the only life line that baby had had since conception.

Audrick gave the scissors back to Katie, and became mesmerized once again by our daughter.

Audrick's POV:

She was so tiny that I was afraid I would break her if I held her. Instead, I just ran on finger from the tip of her head, down to her cheek, touching each finger individually.

"She needs a name," Hayley smiled at us.

Jamie and I looked at each other, glancing back and forth. It then dawned on us that we didn't even discuss names yet, said we wanted to do it just a couple of days before she was born.

And now she was here, and she didn't have a name.

"I think we should name her Kennedy," Jamie said, placing her finger in the, my, baby's fist.

"Kennedy Grace Jackson?" I tried, hoping she'd agree. Jamie seemed more content than ever with that answer.

"Kennedy Grace Jackson."

"So…what now?" Chelsea asked, gingerly feeling Kennedy's back. "Do we call an ambulance? It might be the fastest way to get there."

Hayley face-palmed. "Of course! I'm such and idiot. We should have called and said we had a pregnant woman going into stage four labor, and they would've been here instantly! Ugh!"

Carter grasped her shoulders. "Calm down, Hales, it was just a mistake."

"Oh, no, no, no, no. Mistake was misspelling my middle name until fourth grade. Mistake was believing Alexander Crechchoff actually liked me. Mistake was not believing in miracles. A mistake is not what this is."

Carter shuddered. "I can't wait 'til you get past the hormonal stage you're in."

"I am not – oh. I am…"

"In the meantime, I'm gonna call John. He's out patrolling in one of the sub-divisions so as to be closer for any wrecks. I think this can be an exception for him," Katie said, putting her iPhone to her ear. John was one of her personal buddies, an EMT that was strictly supposed to pick up crash victims.

"Hi, John? Yeah, it's Kathryn. I was just wondering if you were anywhere nearby. No, I've not been in a crash, but my, um, sister's daughter-in-law went into labor and I delivered her on the side of the road, and we need to get to St. Augustine fast. Mind helping an old friend out? Thanks. See you in a bit." She ended the call and looked to us. "He'll be here in five, maybe two."

All we could do was nod, when Luke jumped up from the back seat, scaring me half to death. I'd forgotten he was there. He reached up and he poked Kennedy, earning a squeak from her.

"Eew, again," he said, scrunching up his nose. "It's so…squishy."

I cracked a small smile, and there came the ambulance sirens. I leaned in close to Jamie. "Would it be okay if Mom rode with you? With Dad's heart attack and all, she needs to get there, sooner than we will in the car."

Her face fell a little, but it brightened up not a moment later. "Of course. Just promise you'll get there, eventually."

"As soon as I can," I kissed her forehead as John arrived, pulling out a gurney.

"John," Katie smiled and gave him a side-hug. "Thank you so much."

"It's no problem. Just be glad the head director is one of your fans." Together we helped Jamie on the gurney, Kennedy still in her arms.

"Anyone going with us?" He asked, searching all of our faces. Mom was about to say something, just as I had predicted she would. She retreated, though.

Jamie and I exchanged a small glance. "You go," I smiled tightly at Mom. "I'll ride with Hayley.

"Are you sure? Audrey, I'll be fine…"

"Please, I want you too. I'm shaking too much to ride in the back with her." I held up my shaking hand. "Now, go. Make sure Dad's okay." With that, I kissed Jamie and ran a finger over Kennedy again before I climbed in the passenger seat. She needed to be there with Dad, that's the only reason I'd ever let her go instead of me.

She was going to argue with me, I just knew she was, but Hayley stopped her, shoving her in and winking at me. "Grandma's gonna go with her," I heard her muffled voice from outside the car. The doors closed behind Mom, and my heart was crushed.

She'd been in this world ten minutes, and already I had decided I would give my life for her.

"And the Daddy-Daughter syndrome has begun," Carter laughed, clasping me on the shoulder, and I gave a smirk. "Don't worry, it only gets harder from here. Just wait until she's five and asking for an iPhone."

Five.

Five.

She would turn five?

I placed my palm to my forehead, closing my eyes and groaning.

"What's wrong with him?" Hayley asked as she got back in the car.

"Yeah, he looks pretty sick," Chelsea commented. Tommy sat wordlessly beside her.

"It's –" Carter started.

"Five." I finished.

I didn't say much more after that.

Annabeth's POV:

"I hope you don't mind my coming instead of Audrick," I said, still staring at the baby in her arms. Kennedy Jackson. I couldn't seem to stop thinking about her.

"It's not a problem, Mrs. Jackson, honestly," Jamie smiled, and I gave a small one back.

"Why didn't you tell me it felt so…so…"

I knew what she was talking about and it filled me with pride. I brushed her hair back. "It's not something you can describe, honey. It is what it is,"

"And that's all it'll ever be," she smiled softly. "That's what my older sister Harriet used to say. She was like my mother, you know, since Mom was never around and all."

"I get that," I said. "Even my step-mother and I butted heads for several years. She never felt like a mother, sometimes I called her a kindly one and a harpy behind her back. I'm just glad you had Harriet."

Jamie laughed. "It's not as fun or good as you would think. Harriet sounds a lot like your step mother – we would fight and disagree all the time, but whenever I needed someone to latch on to and spill out all of my troubles, she was there. Like when I got cancer…"

She trailed off and tucked the small blanket John had given us up to Kennedy's chin. "She's gorgeous," I reassured her. "And she's fine. She's not going to stop breathing," I smiled as she reluctantly took her palm off of Kennedy's small chest.

"Also," I added with a smile, "the best way to make sure she's still breathing is to hold a single finger under her nose. And never stick the thermometer in their mouth."

"Where would I…oh," her cheeks got a little red.

I almost laughed. "Yeah. Not the prettiest place, but it works the best."

Jamie chewed on her lip, and the silence around us was cumbersome. She looked like she wanted to say something, but I wasn't going to provoke it out of her. If she wanted to tell me something, then she would.

She did not soon after I thought that.

"Annabeth," she said timidly, looking at the ceiling, her daughter, the wall, anything but me.

"Hmm?"

"I just wanted to say that…well, I mean, Harriet was a cool big sister and all and she was a great mother-figure to me and…and…"

I patted her arm, found her hand and gave her a squeeze.

"Thank you. I haven't done that much, but thank you."

"Haven't done that much?" she quoted in such a shrill voice I feared she was mad at me. "Haven't done that much? Annabeth, when my landlord kicked me out you let me live with you. You gave me a room and food and helped to put me through college. Without you…I just don't know where I'd be. Certainly not here."

"Why do you not think so?"

She sighed. "Because…because I know myself. And myself is a person who would give up my happiness for others. I, basically, would've driven Audrick away if you hadn't of took me in, if I'd been left out in the streets trying to think of a way to finish paying off my medical bills and the apartment and college and all of it. I would have made him leave so he didn't have to suffer with me. How awful, right?" she blew some hair out of her eyes.

"You wouldn't have been able to do that." I said quietly, Kennedy grabbing my finger and refusing to let go.

"Why not?" she seemed a little in shock that she couldn't have done something, and it made me smile.

"Because he's loved you since the day you pecked him on the cheek when you were at camp. Since the fireworks when he realized you were just as beautiful outside as you were in. All of the treatments, the prayers, the asking you to marry him, and even when he got cold feet and chickened out the first time. When you broke up because your dad made you, he was heartbroken. We couldn't get him to eat for weeks, it might have even been a month until we got him to laugh or even barely smile. He would run away to be with you. He would travel the earth to get you to be his. He's cheesy, but that's what makes him Audrick Jackson. He loves you, Jamie, and nothing could come between or break that."

"Like with you and Percy," she smiled.

I shrugged. "I wouldn't say that. With you and him it was instant love. But for Percy and I, well, I think it had to grow. At first we couldn't stand each other. We were like Noah and Allie in The Notebook."

She nodded and shook her head at the same time.

"What?" I asked.

"I don't believe that. Sure, you two are a lot like Noah and Allie. But do you honestly think it didn't take time? No, there were times when Audrick and I couldn't stand to be in the same room with each other. We couldn't stand to breathe the same air. We would argue about useless things, of course, like who should pay the bill for dinner or drive the other one home or whether or not he used a toothbrush or cleaned out his car or even the kind of soup we got at the resturaunt! It didn't matter, just that we fought and made up sometime soon, sometime later. I think the fighting fueled us into the passionate, Nicholas Sparks worthy characters that we are now. And I find it funny, sometimes, to think like that."

"Why?" I was genuinely curious. When this girl spoke, her voice was like an angels, one that you just couldn't ignore. I'm not saying that she was an angel, but man did she sound like one.

She laughed. "It's just – have you ever read A Walk to Remember?"

I shook my head. "No, but I've heard of the movie. Some girl with cancer, a love story, yada-dada-dah…"

She nodded. "The books better, but the movie's all right. Anyway, I just couldn't help but thinking, Wow. That's so much like me. My name is Jamie, I have a single dad, I don't cut my hair and wear skirts, I believe in something bigger, and I've got cancer. How ironic, I suppose."

It almost killed me how she was smiling.

"I almost don't get you," I said. She tilted her head to the side. I continued, "I mean, you've got so much to be angry about. Everything that's happened to you…"

I looked into her eyes, and I finally understood it. I could see it.

"Why get angry about something you can't change?" her fragile voice calmly stated.

Before either of us could break the never ending silence that followed, we arrived at the hospital. I glanced at Jamie. "When they open the doors, I'm going with you."

That was unexpected, not only to her, but to me. I was going to say that I was heading after Percy, to check on him. Something stopped me, though.

"O-okay," she stammered, her eyes uncomprehending.

The doors to the ambulance opened, and a fairly dramatic scene took place. Hoards of doctors surrounded her and the baby. I would've been lucky to get within in five feet. They constantly kept pushing me back, even when they started to wheel her away like it was life or death.

It was a scene out of Grey's Anatomy, and that's about the only way to put it.

"Ma'am?" A small, plump woman with auburn hair and a kind face smiled up at me, and I couldn't help but grin back.

"Yes?"

"If you'll come with me. I think someone wants to see you, by the name of Perseus Jackson?"

"That's my husband," I said, a little too quickly. Though I didn't understand how it could be too quick. "Is he okay?" that one I asked a little too slowly.

"He's doing better, but he isn't in great condition. He's been mumbling something about a beautiful blonde and then farm animals attacking him. Some dreamer you've got."

"Thanks," I said absently. He was alive.

He wasn't great, but he's better.

"When can I see him?"

"Now, if you'd like. But soon they're taking him down for some tests, EKG and all that. They might have already put him to sleep." She led me inside and through the waiting room, all the way back to room three zero two. She pushed the door open, just enough to squeeze her head through, and after a few mumbles and shaking of heads, she popped back out. "They're taking him down now. The doctor will be out in a few minutes to discuss everything with you, sign the documents and such. You can wait in the waiting room until then."

"Uh, yes," I wasn't really thinking about what she was saying. "Thank you, ma'am."

"Name's Debby."

"Debby. Thank you."

I walked slowly back through the inter-changing corridors, and was soon ambushed by everyone who had rode in the van, Hayley balancing a sleeping Lukas on her shoulder.

"He fell asleep on the ride over," she said softly, handing him to me, and I took him without hesitation. "How's Dad?" she took a seat next to Carter, and by the way she leaned back you could see how she was three months pregnant, almost looked more if you looked directly at her.

"He's – they're taking him down for testing. He'll be back up soon."

I pressed my lips into Luke's forehead, holding on to him tight. He was the only one who even remotely looked like Percy; even Chelsea had my grey eyes. Luke was a perfect match to him. I couldn't lose him. I just couldn't.

"Everything's going to be okay," she reassured.

I nodded, rocking back and forth in the chair, humming a soft tune for Luke to hear as he sucked on his thumb. "I know," I kissed him again. "I know."