One thing I have to say is that considering Annabeth is the daughter of Athena, you would think she would know how to use a microwave better. Instead she manages to practically blow up our house every day. Handling several Dracanae at once she can do, and well- but heating a day old bowl of spaghetti is what she really struggles with. When I first heard the explosion I grabbed riptide, thinking that maybe a Nemean Lion had a bad day and was hoping to take it out on us. I ran to the kitchen, clicking my pen only to find the kitchen in a pool of- butter? Annabeth gave a slight jump when she saw me, holding on to her stomach.
"Percy- what are you doing?" she asked, grabbing a wipe from under the sink, and slowly beginning to mop up the ceiling, which she couldn't reach.
"How are you asking me that- what are you doing. I didn't realise fresh wall paint and butter made- wait- what are you actually making?" I asked, and she turned red.
"I was craving something fatty." She said shyly, as I grabbed the wipe from her and reaching easily up to the ceiling, wiping in different patterns.
"So you went for melted butter?" I asked, and she nodded. The whole room smelt both awful and delicious at the same time.
"Well, it was melting before the microwave blew up on me." She exclaimed, picking up fragments of what used to be our microwave off of the ground. As she bent she put a hand on her back, trying to support it in a classic, 'don't-judge-me-I'm-pregnant' kind of way.
"Did you, by any chance, put a fork in the microwave?" I asked, surveying the danger zone.
"What-No! I'm not that stupid." She said, walking off and laying down on the couch, leaving me to clean up her mess.
"You want to explain to me what this means then?" I asked, holding up a very disfigured blackened fork. She shakes her head.
"Never seen that before." She laughed, knowing that there was nothing she could do at that point in time to make me angry. I walked over to her and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead, before lying down on the floor next to her, closing my eyes.
"Hey! Are you going to clean that up?" she giggled.
"Don't worry, I got it covered." I said. Annabeth looked up over the couch, to see spouts of water, jetting themselves at the stains on the walls with bubbles appearing by the sink.
"That better dry itself Seaweed brain." She said, lying her head back down on the fluffy pillow. A small nerve twitches in the deepest part of the brain, signalling that I have no idea what to do next. Instead of actively doing something, I lay down and closed my eyes instead. Annabeth reached over me sometime in the next hour for the crossword. I guess I fell asleep somewhere through that time, but it felt like only minutes had past. "Oh good you're awake. What's a 7 letter word for matrimony?" she asked, and I snorted.
"Since when did you ask me for crossword advice? You're the one who practically tackled me down when I tried to fill in the three letter word for faeces." I said, and I could see her trying not to laugh.
"Percy- do you ever take a hint?" she asked her tone a little too serious.
"I feel you're trying to make a point." I said and she side, rolling on to her side and facing me from the above couch.
"My dad called…" she said, and I sighed. That's not good. Lately he's been calling a lot, wondering about the baby, the house and what size pants I am (seriously- he asked that).
"What did he want this time?" I asked, crossing my fingers that it was just a recipe for Annabeth's killer pie.
"He wanted to know why we aren't getting married." She said, and my stomach twisted. This conversation had resurrected from the dead. There followed a moment of silence, where I became very interested with the book Chiron had given me to read.
"What did you tell him?" I asked quietly.
"I told him that I didn't know." She said, getting up and walking to our room, shutting the door in my face.
An hour later I was still sitting outside our bedroom door, throwing a tennis ball against the wall opposite to me, filling in the time. "Annabeth- we've talked about this." I said, for what felt like the hundredth time. There was still silence from the other end of the door. "You said you wanted to wait." I said, hoping to piss her off a little. The door opened behind me, which also happened to be my back support, meaning I fell backwards onto her feet. She kicked me off. For a pregnant women she remains very feisty.
"Oh my Gods Percy- how could you say that!" she said, as I put my thumb and forefinger on the bridge of my nose.
"Because you said it!" I replied, getting off the ground.
"When did I ever say that!" she yelled, storming off in to the dining room.
"On the night of our anniversary- which you forgot- you said you didn't want to get married, because you didn't want it to hold us down in terms of battle and things." I said calmly.
"I didn't mean it! No girl means that." She said, pulling out a chair and sitting in it.
"So you're angry at me because you told me you didn't want to get married, which you didn't actually mean, and you wanted me to just guess." I said, and she was silent for a minute.
"Well… yeah." She said stubbornly. "I understand you don't want to get married- but- don't you think that would be best?" she asked, rubbing her slightly big stomach. I look down at it, and back at her.
"You think I don't want to get married?" I said, my heart beating faster, even though my voice stayed calm. I think it sounded a bit hurt, because Annabeth's grey eyes relaxed.
"Well- yeah. Just because I'm pregnant- it doesn't mean we have to get married. I thought that's what you thought.
"Annabeth- I've known you since I was twelve. We're 25 now, and still together. Do you really think I haven't wanted to get married to you since the day we met?" I asked, and she shrugged.
"We hated each other when we first met." She said quietly.
"That's not true. You hated me. I thought you were hot." I said, trying to get her to laugh, which she does quietly, before hitting me. "If you must know, I was going to propose on the night of our anniversary, before you whipped out that wonderful sentence, leaving m to think I had made the stupid mistake in buying the ring. Then we did that other thing which led to this other thing." I said, pointing at the baby. "Anyway- I plucked up the courage to ask you, but then you told me you were pregnant. I didn't want to propose- I didn't want you or anyone else to think that I was only proposing because you were pregnant." I said, and it was then that I realised how stupid I sounded. Obviously it wasn't too stupid, seeing as the next thing I knew she was kissing me. Her arms flew around me and she leaned back smiling.
"I love you so much, Percy Jackson." She said, and I smiled. Sometimes I forget that she's not just my best friend. She's more than that- I don't know what I would do without her- because I am completely and totally in love with her. What have I gotten myself into?