A/N: Thanks for the lovely reviews! I hope you enjoy this chapter. It doesn't have a song for it! And because of complaints, I'll leave the author's notes (the ones that explain things) at the bottom. I don't own PJO!

Chapter Eight: First Day Troubles

When the six arrived at school, they all proceeded to relax in Aphrodite's small room, as they had two hours with nothing to do. While Ares, Apollo, and Artemis sat on the couch, Aphrodite sat in the chair behind her small desk, her high-heeled feet sitting on top of it. Poseidon was on the scoop chair, Athena sitting on his right knee. He still refused to let go of the baby bump, and it made her smile. This was how friends were supposed to act. And now, he was a friend—as far as she could tell.

They were talking, when it became seven. And hour had passed so quickly, and they heard yelling coming from two doors down. "Great," Athena murmured. "Hedge is already on a rampage today. Just what I need." She stood up slowly. "I better go tell her before class begins."

Aphrodite smiled and kicked down her feet. She walked over to Athena and grabbed her hand. "Let's go, Graeae. I'll tell her with you."

Athena shook her head. "Sorry, Aphrodite. I don't want you to get yelled at on your first day, too."

Artemis walked over as well, leaving her spot next to her brother. "I'll come, too. I don't care if she yells or not; she's nothing compared to an angry Zeus."

"I can't let anyone come," Athena retorted.

"Well, we girls will all go together. You men can stay in here and…do whatever foolish games people who should be jackalopes do." Artemis told the boys.

"What about Poseidon? He is technically the dad," Aphrodite whispered.

"All the more reason we should all go," Ares chimed in. "I've said this before; she's like my little sister—I'll get it through to that lady not to yell at her."

Apollo stood, flexing his no-muscled arms. "Yeah, and I wouldn't dare let her yell at my little sis, too."

Artemis rolled her eyes. "For the last time, I helped our mother give birth to you! I'm older!"

"Well, then. We better get going," Poseidon said, standing.

Aphrodite skipped out the door, leading the way to Hedge's office.

"Hedge is going to hate you," Artemis whispered to Athena.

"Well, that just adds to the list, huh?" She sighed. "Whatever. I've dealt with worse."

Two solid knocks were placed on the dean's large, wooden doors. A young woman, who could only be another teacher, opened the door. She smiled. "Hello! I'm Miss Whitaker. First name's Amy. Did you need anything?"

Poseidon spoke. "Yes, actually, we'd like to meet with Molly,"

Amy smiled. "I was just on my way out. Say, are you the oceanography teacher?" she asked Poseidon. He nodded in response.

"Nicholas Timoleon. Nice to meet you," He nodded curtly to her. She smiled.

"Nice to finally meet you. I'm the astronomy teacher in the world sciences department. Senior class, of course." She glanced over at Athena. Her eyes wondered down to her stomach, and they froze there. She smiled. "You are?" She asked, looking to her eyes now.

"Graeae. Miss Alisha, the literature and writing teacher. Though, I much rather prefer just to be called Graeae." Athena spoke.

"Oh," she said quietly. "Miss."

"Listen, if you got a problem with my little sister, you take it up with me, alright?" Ares said.

"You're little sister?" She crossed her arms. "Of course the big brother would protect the disgrace of the family, right?" She gazed at Athena's stomach to confirm her point.

"Half," Athena said, quietly. Her face was red with shame; this was only the beginning.

"Well, er—I must get going. Good luck with your baby." She snickered at Athena. She faced Poseidon. "It was lovely meeting you," she smiled at him. She waved flirtatiously and spun the other way.

Once she walked away, Athena turned as well. "Wait! Athena," Aphrodite grabbed her by the wrist. "Please."

Athena bit her lip. "Did you see the way she looked at me? How's Hedge going to react? Or the students? I haven't even told Percy and Annabeth—what are they going to think?"

"Stop that! Just stop it!" Aphrodite yelled. She grabbed Athena by the shoulders. "If you care how one little bitch acts towards you, then fine! But I'll let you know something. Percy and Annabeth definitely won't want this to happen. But Annabeth is your daughter! Of course she'll be happy for you! This doesn't mean they can't get married! And Hedge, so what? She's just the head of the school. She can't fire you now! It's not even around a time where she can. And screw the students! Most of the girls will swoon over the baby anyway, and if anything the guys will feel protective! I mean, who lets their pregnant teacher, who's only about a year older than them, get hurt? I, for one, wouldn't. And if by some chance they hate you? Feel that you should be fired? Let them! You'll never see them in your life again. And you have us, 'Thee. We won't let anything happen to you."

Athena was staring at the ground. She sighed as she opened up the door to Molly's office. "I'm doing this alone. Don't follow me in there." She glanced at Poseidon. "Any of you." Once she walked in, she closed the door behind her.

Hedge looked up at the noise of the door shutting. "Graeae? Did you need something?"

"Yes, actually."

Hedge pointed at the seat in front of her long desk. "Sit down. What is it, dear?"

"Whatever you do," Athena said, sitting down. "Just please…it's already hard enough. Don't take it out on any of my friends, all right?"

Molly leaned back in her chair. "This is rather serious, is it not?"

Athena exhaled. "It's actually very serious."

Molly's strict face died into one of curiosity. "All right. I won't inflict any punishment on your family and friends. What is it, now?"

Athena glanced at the floor. "Well, I won't be able to teach volleyball this year. My, err…health condition would rather worsen if I did. I'm sorry for saying I could."

Molly laughed. "That's it? Why didn't you tell me in the first place? No problem, no problem at all."

"Actually…I didn't know about this." Athena's voice softened.

"What do you mean, child?" Hedge asked.

Athena stood. "This," she pointed at her stomach.

"Oh, dear." Molly was stunned. "How far are you, child?"

"I think about four months." Athena told her.

"Yes, that looks about right." Molly walked over to Athena. "I think we need to talk."

Athena nodded. "I'm very sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I just wish I would've known."

"It seems very abnormal for a woman not to realize she is carrying a child."

Athena hated to lie, but she knew she had to. "Yes, well I dismissed it. I thought it was all fake, but now I know it wasn't."

Molly eyed her. "I don't think that's the truth. But I'll let it slide."

Athena sat down once again. "Molly, I truly am sorry. I'll do whatever you need."

"I need a volleyball coach for today. However, I still want you to coach—decide who makes the team, explain the plays, small things like that. No running for you or any volleyball demonstrations. I'll just have Miss Whitaker show the drills as the co-coach."

Athena bit her tongue. It wasn't a good time to bargain. "Yes, Molly. I'll be sure of that."

"Good. And you are…how many weeks?"

"I'm predicting almost eighteen, about seventeen." Athena said.

Molly smiled. "My daughter is twenty-nine; she's only a few weeks more. Here," she stood and walked back to her desk. She pulled out a little card with a number on it. "I take her every other week to get her checked. We don't necessarily have to go that often, but she loves getting the ultrasounds. Anyways, call this number. I want at least two reports from you every month on how the baby is doing."

Athena smiled. "Thank you, Molly."

"Wait on minute," Molly said. She sat down in her rolling chair and folded her hands on her desk. "I need to know a few things."

"Like?" Athena asked.

"One, who's the father?" Molly questioned.

Athena blinked. No point in lying, she thought. "Nick." She whispered. "Nicholas."

Molly raised an eyebrow. "Alright, then. Well, are you two thinking about marriage? It would make this whole fiasco seem better."

Athena put out her left hand, where Hera had practically glued a ring to her finger. "Yes."

"Good, good. Are you planning on getting married before or after the baby?"

"After,"

Molly made a face of decision. "Well," she sighed. "Sorry, Miss Alisha. I do wish you the best, but I will need you to stay up until when you have the child. And I still stand by my rule; please, keep the fraternization to the minimum."

Athena nodded. "That's fine, that's very fine."

Hedge looked at her watch. "It's ten after. You better go. Give them a call tonight, alright? And remember, at least two every month."

Athena smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Molly. But why do you care so much?"

Hedge sighed. "Let's just say I was a lot like you thirty years ago."

Athena was confused, but nodded anyhow. "Thank you, really."

Hedge dismissed her, and Athena walked out of the office.

"Well, how'd it go?" Poseidon asked her.

She shrugged. "Okay, I guess. Let's just get back to our classrooms."

The six bid farewell to each other, all but Poseidon, who was only a hall away from Athena. He walked with her, back to her classroom. The two talked for a few minutes. Starting around seven fifty-five, students filed in the classroom, slowly. Athena inhaled sharply when they came in. Poseidon smiled and put a hand on her belly. "You'll be brilliant."

"I'm not worried about the teaching," she said. "Just…the announcement."

Poseidon shrugged. "Like Aphrodite said, the girls will swoon over it. And the guys? Well, they don't like to admit it, but any pretty girl their age that's pregnant, they keep her safe. They'll feel…like brothers."

He tapped her stomach once and smiled when the flutter came back. Athena rolled her eyes. "I think Hera made it so that every time you touch it, it'll move." She said, inching back a little on her desk.

He smiled at her. "Maybe so."

"You better go. Kids are coming in. They'll be waiting," She said.

He chuckled and slid his hand off her abdomen. "See you two later." He left the room.

Athena stayed sitting on the desk. By exactly eight o'clock, she counted that all twenty students were there. None were really paying attention, as they were all on electronics, or conversing. Athena cleared her throat. "Hello," she said. "I'm Miss Alisha. But that makes me sound old. So, you have the option of calling me Graeae, Miss Alisha, Miss A, whatever."

A boy piped up, "What about Professor Alisha?"

"Alright. That's actually cool, it sounds like we're in Harry Potter. I'll let you call me that." She smiled.

"So, Professor, what are we doing today? May I say how lovely you are?" Athena had her arms draped over her stomach, trying to hide it as much as possible. She rolled her eyes at the boy.

"Alright, thank you. I may be twenty-four, only about a year or two older, but please, I'm engaged. And today, we're going to start the writing course. Today, we'll all be just writing a creative story for forty minutes. I just want to see your writing style. The prompt is: Stranded. Think outside the box. Get out paper, put down your name and the period, one, and write!" She smiled.

After the forty minutes was up, there was still twenty minutes left until the sixty-minute period was over. When Athena asked what they wanted to do, there was a small response. One girl, Carrie , had said, "My teacher at my old high school did this thing where if we finished early, we'd just ask questions. It was rather strange…random questions were asked, but she agreed to answer anything."

Athena smiled. "Alright. Just try to keep the personal questions to a minimum."

Almost every student raised their hand after that.

Questions about where she went to school, her love life, and much more had been thrown around. Most of them, she had to lie during. Suddenly, one strawberry blonde raised her hand. "Yes, Alyssa?"

The girl, Alyssa, kept a straight face. "I saw Mr. Timoleon in here this morning. Why were his hands on your stomach? And why have you been covering it up all class?"

Athena eyed the girl. "You're very observant, aren't you?"

Alyssa shrugged. "I also observed you're not married."

Gavin looked at her. He wiggled his eyebrows. "So did I,"

Athena looked straight at Alyssa. "Why would you care?" she asked.

Alyssa just looked at her. "Well, my mom always taught me to wait until marriage…"

Someone, who was rather dull, went, "Huh?"

Athena rolled her eyes. "Well," Alyssa spoke. "Are you going to answer me? Graeae, are you pregnant? And is Mr. Timoleon the dad?"

Athena kept her lips sealed. She just stared at the girl, and wondered who on earth, Olympus, in the heavens, or in the Underworld be so rude. "Yes. Yes, I am. And yes, he is."

A few students gasped, while Alyssa just smiled smugly. "That's great! I'll let the dean know and you can take off."

Athena shrugged, saying, "I've already taken care of that." The bell run soon after, signaling the half-hour break before classes began again. "Turn in your stories! I'll read them tonight. I'll grade them, but they won't be anything, it'll just be a beginning of the year look on what your stories may be like. Get going! See you Wednesday!"

The students all left the room, handing their stories to her one by one. Athena smiled when one girl stayed behind. She was a long haired, blonde girl with sparkled silver highlights. Was that even possible? She had misty blue eyes and a pale face. When she spoke, it was though a soft spirit was speaking through her. "I'm sorry about Alyssa."

"It's fine, Michelle. You didn't make her say that." Athena told the girl.

Michelle smiled and pulled something out of her bag. "Here, this is for you. While the others were asking questions, I drew this." She handed Athena a picture of a giant throne with a beautiful lady on it. One who looked much like Athena herself. When Athena looked questioningly at the student, Michelle grinned. "You remind me of Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom."

"Yes, I know all about her. Thank you, Michelle."

"Knock knock!" A girlish voice came from the door.

"Hmm. She looks like an Aphrodite," Michelle said, staring at the real Aphrodite. Looking back at Athena, she said, "Goodbye, Graeae! I'll see you Wednesday. Take care of the child."

When Michelle left, Aphrodite came in, followed by Poseidon and Artemis. "Whoa. What just happened?" Aphrodite asked. Athena just handed her the paper.

"I think she can see through the mist. But since we're not in our godly forms, I think she only assumes us to look like goddesses and gods." Athena said.

"You think a lot,"

Artemis snickered. "Yeah. She should. That's her job, after all."

"All of our jobs, now." Poseidon shrugged. "So, how was it?" He asked Athena.

She just shook her head. "It's going to be a long year."

When the end of the school day came about, Athena was exhausted. She sat in the backseat of the truck next to Aphrodite and Artemis, who was sitting by her brother. While Poseidon was driving and Ares had shot-gun, everybody was talking. She, however, got a fifteen minute nap.

When they arrived home, the first thing Athena did was kick off her shoes. The three dogs, Bitty, Jackie, and Mickey, came running up at once, almost tackling Athena and Aphrodite. "Whoa! Calm down, baby!" Aphrodite said as she bended over to pick up Bitty. Jackie barked, and Artemis picked her up as well. Mickey just stood patiently at Athena's feet, looking up at her.

"I can't pick you up, Mick!" She said.

Mickey barked.

Athena laughed as he spun around. Apollo picked him up and handed him to Athena. "There you go, bud." Athena pet Mickey's head and let him go when he started squirming. Heading over to the sink, she washed her hands and pulled multiple foods from the fridge.

"What're you doing?" Poseidon asked, shutting the garage door. The other friends had already gone up to get changed and what not. Athena shrugged.

"Well, I guess the only way we eat is if someone cooks, right? And we need to eat now, and nobody wants to cook." She explained. "So I guess I'll cook."

"You've cooked every day we've been here, Athena. Let someone else do it."

"Like who? Artemis doesn't know how, nor Ares. Apollo would just burn the house down, and who knows what the world would come to if I gave Aphrodite a knife."

"I'll cook," He said.

"You? Please. You were waited on hand and foot by sea minions your whole life. How would you know how to cook?"

"Well…I meant, how about we all go out to dinner tonight?"

Athena rolled her eyes. "No. We have a schedule!"

"Hmm," Poseidon said, walking towards Athena. He put a hand on her back, pulling her in.

"Uh, what are you doing?'" She asked, confused.

He chuckled and put the other on her stomach. "Well, if I, lord of the sea, am going to be a father, this one has to like sea food. And the only way to find out is to take it out, right?"

Athena smiled. "I'm fine with making some salad and steak."

"Oh, no. You and I are going out tonight."

"Just you and I?"

"Yes," he said. "Consider it a date."

She smiled. "Alright. At least let me change."

"No problem, Athena. Be quick though!"

She rolled her eyes at him. She pulled away and asked, "What will the others eat?"

"They can figure that out themselves."

A/N: So, next chapter, we have a DATE! Okay: quick explanation!

This is not how your average college works! I wanted it to be different!

So, each class is an hour long, with a half-hour break in between, so the teachers have time to do work. That would mean classes start at 8, and end at 12 for lunch, giving a break before lunch. After lunch at 1:30, class begins at 2, and end at 6. Schedule:

P1: 8-9 AM
P2: 9:30-10:30 AM
P3: 11AM-12PM
P4: 2-3PM
P5: 3:30-4:30 PM
P6: 5-6 PM

And every class that is on Monday will be on Wednesday at the same time; every class that is on Tuesday will be on Thursday at the same time. Fridays are study hall days when students can go in any classroom to work (:

I love feedback almost as much as Aphrodite loves love! Look on my profile to see Athena and Poseidon's outfits for their "date"!

~Suzie