Hi! Thank you so much for the warm reviews on the story's first chapter, I hope you enjoy this one!
Disclaimer: I don't own the premise of the Rick Riordan mythological universe or the characters of Nico and Will.
ii : the dreamhouse
Since Francesca was propped up on Will's hip and Nico was simply on diaper bag duty, he got to truly meander across the house and investigate it closely. It was a lot to take in. It felt a little too good to be true. Big windows that let in lots of light, white walls that bounced it all across the room, a porch that made Nico think of Camp Half-Blood's Big House, an open floor with no walls for things to hide…
"Do you have any questions about the property?" the overcompensating real estate agent said with a smile.
"No," Will said looking at Nico to gauge his reaction as he answered for them. "I think we just need a second to talk."
Nico nodded. The real estate agent beamed. Her name was Lauren, probably, which would explain how blond and perky she was.
"No problem, I'll give you a moment to mull things over," she said.
As she walked towards the front door and let herself out, she spooked Cata by coming close. Catalina bounced to her feet, green eyes wide. She came to sit on Nico's foot, holding onto his leg. He reached out to tug her braid, and she looked up at him smiling.
"So what do you think?" Will asked looking around at the wide open space that would eventually be split between a living room and a kitchen. There was room for the ridiculously huge and oversized couch that they'd picked out from a catalogue while drunk. If they bought the house, of course.
"It's beautiful," Nico said. It was such a nice place, it nearly made Nico forget about all the holes and cracks in the wall where he'd curled up to sleep as a kid. Franca's chin was propped against Will's shoulder and it made Nico happy that she wouldn't have had to do this. Someone who looked so small and innocent now wouldn't possibly ever be able to handle the godawful world out there.
"Kitchen over there, fully equipped… Because the gods know that we are never rennovating a kitchen ever again. We could take that little room over there, by the staircase, and make it an office for you, so you wouldn't always have to pick up your books and hide your laptop from the kids. The attic is accessible, we could hide scary you-know-what things from the kids up there. There are plenty of extra rooms in case we get visit..."
Nico nodded. With Cata clinging to him and Franca sucking on her thumb in Will's arms… He could start imagining bits and pieces from Ikea catalogues and Pinterest and all their wildest dreams falling into place to make this house their home. Still, something was stirring in the pit of his stomach that made the light a little too bright, the smell of lemon polisher too stingy and everything… wrong.
"Do we know why the property is so cheap if it's this perfect?" Nico asked. Will bit his lip and nudged his head towards Cata. Nico covered her ears.
"There was a murder here," Will said quickly.
"What?" Nico said, dropping his hands.
"What's wrong Papa?" Cata said.
"Nothing, let's keep playing the game," Will said. Nico covered her ears again.
"Someone was killed here?" Nico said. "Oh my gods, no wonder it feels so weird!"
"Yes," Will said.
"What happened?" Nico hissed, trying to keep it quiet.
"The kids are right here," Will said.
"Cata's playing a game and Franca's a child of the Underworld," Nico said dismissively. "Come on, you can't just not tell me. It's not my fault I was on kid-duty while you asked."
"Can't you use your ghoul powers to figure it out?" Will whispered.
"I could, but that'll tick off Francesca's senses and I don't think you want to deal with a tantrum right now," Nico said.
"Okay, a lawyer poisoned his wife here," Will said.
"Are you serious?"
"Yes and they had three children, it's horrible," Will said. "I just didn't want to tell you because you weren't reacting too badly to the aura of death or whatever it is and…"
"And this place is really nice," Nico agreed. "And we could totally put a Christmas tree in that corner, all the electrical outlets are already childproof so we won't have to worry about Franca, and there's plenty of wall space to hang pictures…"
He looked around.
"Okay. I'm sold," Nico said at last. "Just promise not to poison me."
"I promise. Do you promise not to become a lawyer?"
"I swear it on the Styx," Nico said. Will opened his free arm and they hugged, squishing the two girls between them. Franca squealed and Catalina giggled.
"Daddy, Papa, are we going to live here?" Catalina piped up.
"We are," Nico said picking her up and swirling her in the air once before plopping her back on the floor. "If you go upstairs right now, you can even pick your room."
Cata ran off, so Nico and Will could kiss for real.
(And then they had to go tell Cata that she couldn't live in the bathroom because Daddy would wake her up too much when he had to shower in the middle of the night when he had to go into work at strange times- which wasn't the kind of logic a small child liked hearing, but was ultimately for the greater good.)
