I remember visiting Camp Half-Blood for the first time to pick up my daughter, Annabeth Chase, after she wrote to us to say that she wanted us to try again as a family after her successful quest. Right after she ran away I went crazy looking for her and was filled with remorse. I had lost my daughter because of my inattention and now my little girl is out there all alone and could possibly be dead for all I knew. The first month passed with little sleep on my part while Helen tried to make me see it was better this way for Bobby and Mathew but Helen did not get that this was my baby girl we were talking about. In the beginning of the second month of Annabeth's absence I received an unexpected visitor, the mother of my child, Athena herself. She looked at me with a disapproving and reproachful glare while telling me to give up searching for our daughter and the she had already taken care of it. Before she left she had turned to me and said "I am disappointed in you, you have not been worthy of the honor of my daughter. At least she knows that one of her parents will always look out for her."
Two months after that encounter I had gotten a letter from a man named Chiron telling me that my daughter had arrived safely to camp. He explained that they were going to train my daughter to fight and learn about monsters. I wrote several letters to that address appealing her to come back home so we could try again. Shockingly enough after about a year of constant entreaties she wrote back in a short manner saying that she would try.
The week before she came I was a jumbled mess of nerves which was demonstrated by how I spent prepping the house and her room not stop, even Helen worked up some enthusiasm about my prodigal daughter but I had a feeling she wasn't happy about the attention this took away from our sons. Her stay was, in my opinion, rather pleasant in the beginning but I could tell my daughter had changed, she was more closed off and there was a sadness in her eyes that I wanted to know about and make go away. I gave her my collage ring while telling her about her mother and how we met while Helen stood to the side stiffly. She put the ring on the leather necklace that was around her neck that must have been from camp but when I asked her about the tree bead she glared at me and walked away.
Trouble soon arose in the form of a hell-hound that appeared at a family picnic. Though Annabeth disposed of it rather easily it brought back the old worries of the effect of her presence on the weak little boys. She and Helen got into an argument about it and at one point she looked at me for back up but all I could think was that maybe it was for the best; she would be protected and trained and our mortal family would be safe from her demigod scent and the monsters it brought. Because of this I said nothing causing her to turn away with anger flaring in her eyes but I thought I could see a little bit of disappointment and hurt lingering behind the flames.
When we had gotten back to the house Annabeth went straight to the back of the house and we heard the sound of running water arise from the area where the hose laid. Annabeth started saying things which I couldn't make out. I walked closer to the back of the house to hear the tail end of her conversation.
"I want to go home, now. Please Chiron don't make me stay with them, I beg of you" said Annabeth.
A man's voice replied as if he were standing right next to her. "If that is what you wish Annabeth then I will send Argus to come and get you. Be packed and ready by tomorrow morning."
"Thanks Chiron."
I rounded the corner of the house to see Annabeth standing by a puddle of water with the hose still dripping. When she turned and caught sight of me she just gave me a glare and stormed back inside. I went up to her room and tried to talk to her but she would not listen to me or open the door.
She was gone before I awoke the next morning.
For the next couple years I had no idea what was going on with my daughter, she didn't reply to any of my letters and the camp directors would not tell me the time of day.
Well here I was waiting to pick her up, all by myself, to try living as a family for the second time after getting a letter from her out of the blue saying that she had just finished a quest with her friends and would like to give us a second chance. I was not going to mess up this time if I could help it. This had torn my family apart, Helen doesn't speak of it and the boys hardly know their sister, their flesh and blood sister.
I stood at the top of the hill looking down into the camp. I finally saw Annabeth leave the big building she had entered after handing me her stuff saying that she had to say goodbye to her friend in the infirmary. She walked out with her arm around a skinny boy who looked like a truck had run over him. His skin was a unhealthy white and he had dark circles around his eyes. He was a little shorter than Annabeth and it seemed like his last strength left him as he made his way to the porch. When I saw them I wondered what had happened to make him that way and I worried about my daughter. Right before she left the deck he turned to the man next to them and gave him a loving hug that one normally bestows on a parent. The man, who I found out was actually a centaur, returned the hug with a smile on his face.
The boy and the centaur stood together on the big, wrap-around porch and watch my daughter walk towards me. The boy looked at her with concern and hope in his eyes while the centaur's look was filled with pride; both held a protective glint in them. The centaur finally turned to look at me and our eyes met as the boy still watched my daughter's retreating form. I looked deep into the eyes of the man who replaced me in my daughter's eyes and wanted to be angry but I knew it was all my fault.