"Dad, is this a Greek or Mortal problem?" Nixon asked. I was proud of my son; while facing an unknown danger his first instinct was to assess the situation and make a plan, like his mom. Of course, I was proud but I was also jealous. My first instinct was to raise my sword and swing. Usually, that didn't end well. Annabeth usually planned these things. I wish she was here. Wait, this is a dangerous situation, no I don't. I want to keep Nixon safe, but I don't want to put Annabeth and my unborn child in danger of guys with guns/

"Can't tell yet. But usually, monsters don't have guns," I answered.

"In that case, you should probably your Avenger friends," Nixon said. My what? Oh right, I was an Avenger now. Yay. Did I have the phone number of any of them? I doubt it; there was only like ten numbers in my phone. Nixon would probably know the number. He's just smart like that.

"Everybody put your wallets, phones, and jewelry in the bag!" one of the men shouted. I peeked over the counter to see who we were dealing with. There were only two guys, both wearing black ski masks.

"Should I call Mom?" Nixon whispered. I thought for a moment before shaking my head. If Nixon got caught on the phone we'd be in trouble, and if he called Annabeth then monsters would go to her. I'd rather not have monsters after my pregnant wife. Plus, that would also send monsters after us, and I think we had enough problems to deal with at the moment.

"Phone, wallet, jewelry. Now!" A man stuck a gun in my face and motioned towards my pockets. I pulled my flip phone and my wallet from my pocket and tossed it into his bag.

"Sure thing man, no problem," I said, attempting to not to sound as tense as I really was. Usually, I'd be a little less worried in this type of situation but my kid was here. Don't mess with my family. Or friends. Or acquaintances. Or well, anybody I guess. Nevermind I don't know what I'm saying.

"And the necklace," he said. What necklace? All I was wearing was my camp necklace, and that wasn't particularly expensive.

"No," Nixon answered. Oh, Nixon! Around his neck was a silver chain and sword pendant from Thalia. We didn't get to see Thalia much anymore and the necklace was very important to him, Thals gave it to him for his first birthday.

"Give me the necklace!" The second man approached and they cornered us. I felt myself moving in front of Nixon more than I already was. You wouldn't be able to tell that Nixon was nervous, but his vice like grip on my arm told me he was.

"No," I repeated Nixon's answer, then swung my feet up and smashed my boots into their faces. I regrettably pulled myself from my son's grip and punched an exit to the door so he could make a run for it."Nixon get out!" I yelled, jumping to my feet and kicking the gun out of the first man's hand. Probably not a good idea. I couldn't hurt these guys with my sword. Oh well! #noregrets

"Yeah, sure Dad." Nixon smiled smugly and ignored my order. Instead, he saved my life by hitting the second thief over the head with his backpack.

"Thanks, Nix."

I went back to attacked the first guy, as Nixon's heavy bookbag had completely knocked the first one out. I was wary of Nixon behind me as I got the second attacker and a headlock and held my arm to his throat until he passed out. He kicked and hit while I cut off his air but didn't do much damage besides a cut chin and bruised shins. I let the man drop to the floor and turned back to Nixon.

"Are you ok?" I grasped him by the shoulders and frantically looked him over. Nixon smiled and I was relieved when it reached his eyes. I knew how a smile could deceive you.

"Dad, I'm fine. We're ok," he said. I looked him over for a moment before nodding.

"Is everybody else ok?" I picked up the bag of stolen wallets, phones, and accessories and held the items out to their respective owners. People ran towards us and began to thank me profusely and began to cry. At that point, all I could do was awkwardly tell them that it was really no problem and I was glad they were ok. Thankfully, Nixon took over and handed everybody back their items and was a proper gentleman, helping people get their jewelry back on and reassure them that the situation was over and everybody was ok.

"You must be so proud," an older woman said as she clasped the golden locket that Nixon had returned. The woman seemed less nervous than I was. Actually, she seemed perfectly calm, and it was making me jealous. I felt myself smile as I watched my son helping these people.

"I am, I really am,"

"Dad, school starts in twenty minutes," Nixon said, nudging me. I have a totally normal kid, whose first instinct was to leave so he could get to school on time.

"Right." I stood up and made my way to the counter, where the frazzled waitress was still shaking in her boots.

"Can I get a blue raspberry soda and two medium hot chocolates?" I asked her. She looked up at me with wide eyes, then looked behind me to where Nixon was hog-tying the thieves with their own masks. "And you might want to call the cops to pick those two up," I added. She didn't move for a moment, then nodded frantically. I noticed she was shaking and quickly drew my arm over the counter and set my hand atop hers. "It's ok, you don't have to, we're fine!" Behind me, Nixon nodded in agreement. Her smiled quivered but she shook her head, "no I'm ok, really, just a little I don't know, freaked out? Nothing like this has ever happened to me before, she said. Her wild red hair reminded me of Rachel, but even Rachel's hair wasn't this poofy.

"Thank you," I smiled warmly.

"Of course sir! Thank you! Thank you so much!" She ran off to complete our order. Nixon was busy reorganizing his books in his bag. He was so calm that it was hard to believe somebody had just shoved a gun in his face. Well, it made sense; he was used to fighting ancient Greek bloodthirsty monsters. Two drinks and my bottle of soda were slid across the counter. I pulled out my wallet and began to leaf through my money when the waitress waved her hands.

"Oh no no no! It's on the house, sir! Please, thank you!" she insisted. I shrugged.

"Oh, ok then. Thank you!" I grinned and stuffed a ten in the tip jar.

"Dad, I'm going to be late!" Nixon swung his bag over his shoulder and ran towards the door. I grabbed the drinks, which was quite difficult seeing as there were three drinks and I only had two hands, and ran after him.