As I walked down to the beach I tried everything I could think of to distract myself. I decided counting steps worked best. Twenty-seven. I am completely unprepared for this. Twenty-Eight. Since Percy's death I had taken extra care to avoid the godly side of my family. Twenty-Nine. It wasn't exactly fair of me to blame them, but it made me feel better all the same. Thirty. Unfortunately for me, the two gods I wanted to avoid the most were the two I was fairly confident were waiting for me down at the beach. Thirty-one. The first was my mother. Thirty-two. One part of me thinks it's kind of hilarious that I have mom-issues. Thirty-three. It's just so normal, and as a half-blood, I need some serious normal. Thirty-four. The other part of me just thinks it's sad; I'm way too old for this kind of thing. Damn, I lost count. Oh well, it wasn't working anyway. The second god is Percy's father, Poseidon.

The interesting thing is, of the two, I'm much closer to Poseidon then I ever was to Athena. Poseidon had been very quick to accept me and Percy. Both of us had been worried about the parents when we got together, but for the most part these fears ended up being unfounded. I mean Athena was sort of awful at first, but she got over it. Either way, Poseidon was always very nice about the relationship. I once asked Poseidon why he had been so accepting. He just laughed and asked why I thought he would disapprove. Finally he told me that he trusted Percy's judgment enough to assume that he knew what's best for himself. He also said that anyone with eyes could see that not only did I make Percy really happy, I was also really good for him. I couldn't really look him in the eyes for a week after that.

When I got to the beach my breathing stopped. There, just a few yards away was Poseidon with my youngest son, Andrew. Poseidon was balancing him on his shoulders while he used his power over water to reenact the accomplishments of famous heroes. On a good day, that probably would have been enough to shock me, but this clearly wasn't a good day. What actually caused me to stop breathing was how much Poseidon looked like Percy. For one amazing moment I got to pretend that there was my husband on the beach with a son he was never going to get to know, but then Poseidon turned around and the illusion was over. It was the eyes. The thing was, despite how similar the color was, Poseidon's eyes really were the ocean. Even when they reflected joy, like right now, you could never escape that feeling of drowning. Percy's had never done that.

A few feet away from Poseidon were my mother and daughter. They seemed to be in the middle of a very serious conversation. It was just like Percy had said: Sofia was all Athena. I watched the four of them on the beach. It was all very sweet, but it also made me immeasurably sad. It all felt like a moment from someone else's life. Or maybe it was just because I couldn't escape the feeling that there was someone missing, a void that was never going to be filled.

"Annabeth you've come!" Poseidon cried. The other three turned towards me, all with encouraging smiles.

"Mommy look! He can make the water move!" Andrew had never looked so excited.

"Annabeth, it is nice to see you dear," my mother had an odd expression on her face. It was mostly happy, but I could sense an edge of regret.

"It's nice to see you as well," my voice seemed to lack any real emotion.

"Your children are amazing, Annabeth. Sofia and I were carrying on a delightful conversation about the failing education system. She's quite enchanting."

"You should try telling her that."

"Oh," Athena's face fell. I felt bad for being rude, but I didn't have the patience required for mindless pleasantries.

"And Andrew over here," said Poseidon in an attempt to break the silence, "seems to show early signs of water powers. So did Dylan, though perhaps not as strong."

"Yes, I've noticed," again I brought the conversation to a standstill. Then we just stood there. I had to fight the urge to cry, this was all too much. Being here in this camp with these people… I just couldn't handle this. It was like there were ghosts everywhere. I felt trapped.

Finally Athena said, "I think I'm going to take Andrew and Sofia back to the Big House." Then she turned to me, "I think you and Poseidon need to speak. It was wonderful seeing you" Then she took Sofia's hand and took Andrew from Poseidon and began to walk in the direction of the Big House.

"So how have you been?" Poseidon asked. I just looked at him. There was more silence.

"I really miss him," I whispered. I turn to him just in time to see his shoulders slump.

"I do too," he added.

"Though you should know I never meant to cut you out of your grandchildren's life. I mean you were, are always free to come visit."

"Thank you," he sat down on the sand and after a moment I decided to join him. We spent the next hour talking about the kids and about Percy. Like most of this day it was both happy and sad, but I also imagined that it had the potential to be extremely beneficial. I felt like this could really help us in the healing process. However, when he finally left, I felt entirely drained.

I ended up spending the rest of the day on the beach, watching the water. As I sat there I let all of the memories hit me. I could hear Percy's voice in my head, see him sitting next to me. I closed my eyes and replayed some of our best moments, but soon the depressing ones came. While I pictured our wedding and our first real kiss, I also saw the eruption at Mt. Saint Helens and the look on his face when he died. I felt like the weight of everything might crush me, but then I thought about my kids. There was Dylan who always acted years older than he was, trying to be strong for everyone else. Then there was my little Sofia. Percy used to call her Sofie but I haven't been able to bring myself to since he died. I can tell she really misses him, but seems to be too proud to really show it. Pride must run in the family. And last there was Andrew. I felt the worst for him. He was too young to have to go through this. He looks more like his father every day and, as the fates would have it, this apparently comes with powers. But what will any of this mean to a boy who will have no real permanent memories of his father?

"Hey, Annabeth," I hadn't noticed Thalia's approach, "we were kind of worrying about you so I was sent to come and see how you're doing."

"Glad to see you love spending time with me so much," I replied, trying to brush away my tears.

"That's not what I meant and you know it."

"Yeah… But seriously, I'm fine," then I got up and faced her. She looked sad as I walked up to her. Then she gave me a comforting side hug and we walked back to the Big House arm in arm.