Annabeth:

"So, why aren't you pregnant yet, Mommy?" Sarah looked up from her cereal, and I stared at her.

It had been two months since I had told Percy that I wanted to have another baby, and Sarah and Percy had undoubtedly been the happiest people in the world that day. I was excited and all, but their happiness blew me out of the water. It was like they were both seven and it was Christmas morning.

That day was great.

But the two months were I didn't get pregnant have been the opposite.

When I didn't want to get pregnant, I got pregnant immediately.

But, as soon I want to get pregnant, I can't.

"Well, Sarah, sometimes it takes a while," I ate a slice of toast.

Sarah continued to stare at me as if she was wondering if I had been lying when I said I'd have another baby.

Even I sometimes wondered if I was subconsciously stopping the pregnancy. I mean, it could be possible, right? You could tell your body not to get pregnant, and I'm so stubborn that I'd probably listen. I could easily be doing this all.

But I wasn't!

I wanted a baby. Actually, a boy if it was at all possible.

But I'd love to have a baby girl, too.

I just have always thought I'd be good with raising a boy.

"Hey, Sarah, time for school," I tried to break the growing awkward silence.

XXXXX

I checked my cell phone for the time.

8:15

I had thirty minutes until my check-up on Olympus.

So, I pushed past the growing crowd of parents taking a cab to get to work from their kid's school.

It was a beautiful day with the sun shining so brightly that I realized that Apollo was finally having his first morning in decades without a hangover. The trees were nice and green, and the lush grass was calling out for me to skip the concrete and walk through the park to the Empire State building, which wasn't far from here.

Ten minutes.

Fifteen minutes through the park. Maybe longer.

I looked both ways before trying to sprint across the street and into the park, but it was more of a fast-paced walk in my high heels.

I slowed my pace down to accommodate my platform heels, which felt like stilts today.

But it didn't matter.

Walking through the park to Olympus made me feel like a teenager again.

How could I be thirty now?

My thirtieth birthday had come and gone almost a month ago, and it felt weird to be thirty.

Actually, it didn't. And that was the weird part.

My over-thirty friends had painted a grey picture of life after thirty. They had made it sound like life would be hell. Filled with driving kids to soccer practice and having no time for yourself.

But I had already been doing that since Sarah came to life with me.

I mentally going over my reflection from how I had looked this morning, and I compared it to how I had looked when I was sixteen.

I wanted to be normal, I really did.

I wanted to hate my wrinkles. I wanted to despise my scars and hate the eternal baby weight on my back that I just seemed to never be able to get rid of.

But I felt proud about the wrinkles because I had defied the Demigod expectancies and lived to earn them. I was happy because I had gotten to live with scars instead of die being perfect. And I was fine with the baby weight because I had gotten Sarah from that weight.

I looked back to my cell phone to check the time again.

Malcolm was always so mad when I was late.

With other things, I found it annoyed. But I didn't blame him when it came to Olympus.

Maybe that was because I had something to prove to Olympus.

I had to prove that I wasn't just some half-human, but that I was half-god.

And the gods could never seem to accept that with anyone, even if they had been the one to conceive the child. They would always see their human parts, not the godly inheritance. Just the human problems. Never the godly advantages.

Even Athena was like that sometimes.

Like my latest human problem.

Gods don't plan on having children.

Especially with Seaweed Brains.

On my first day back at work after the wedding, my mother came to visit me. She had smiled her perfectly white smile as she hugged me and congratulated me on my wedding and on landing t big contract only on my first day. I hadn't told anyone about wanting to have a baby except for Malcolm. And I was nervous about telling my mother. But I knew that Aphrodite would tell her if I didn't, and I couldn't have that again.

And, let me tell you, watching a goddess have a panic attack is one of the scariest things you can see in this lifetime.

It had taken my mother a month and a half to speak to me again, and that was because Zeus forced her to.

We had made up, I guess.

But I knew she still didn't want to add another grandchild to her family.

And I still wanted a baby.

I ruffled my hair, and I was about to take off my heels and walk in the grass when I noticed someone standing by a tree.

I gasped.

Suddenly, I realized why I was so scared of Renee.

She looked exactly like Hera!

Of course, Hera was prettier.

Hera's dark brown hair was thicker and silkier. Her high cheekbones were more intimidating. Hera's nose was more Roman. Her brown eyes were more velvety, and they made you want to cower behind a tree or something. Her body was leaner, and her curves more pronounced. And her legs were longer.

But they strangely dressed mostly the same.

I had seen Renee wear flowing Greek robes, and, as I stood there, I knew that I had seen the same expensive dress on Renee when I had last seen her.

I hurried my walk, and suddenly my heels no longer posed a challenge.

I was too focused on getting away from Hera to think of my platform heels.

"Annabeth."

I gasped as someone's hand grabbed my arm and stopped me.

I almost fell to the ground as my knees went weaker with shock, but I managed myself up right.

"Oh, Hera," I turned around to look at her, and I felt my stomach churn as I noticed how serious her chocolate brown eyes were, "How are you?"

I brushed my hair behind my ear.

"Annabeth," Hera began, letting go of my arm, "I think we need to talk."

I froze.

"Talk?"

"Talk."

Annabeth,

I held Percy's hand and looked towards the cliff we stood on.

But the cliff was nothing to the monsters running after us.

I knew that we had to jump, and Percy kept telling me that it would be fine if we jumped down.

But he didn't know. I didn't know.

There was a small lake at the bottom, and that was why Percy thought we could live. But I was the smart one here. I knew that the fall was enough to kill us, and I wasn't sure that we would even fall the right way to get to the lake instead of landing on a bunch of sharp rocks.

Zeus had never liked us.

And this was his domain, not Percy's.

Wouldn't Zeus love to kill us this way? Have him survive all that he's been through but then die by falling a few feet away from the lake that would have saved his life?

"Annabeth, it's either die with the monsters or take a chance on living!" Percy yelled in the calamity.

"I love you, Percy," tears fell down my eyes, and it hurt me to say that. But I had to say it because I didn't want to die without saying it.

"I love, you, too, Annabeth," he squeezed my hand, "No matter what. I love you."

I nodded and squeezed his hand.

"On the count of three," I felt my body go weak.

"Alright," Percy began to count down, but he stopped before three, "If we live, I promise not to use me being right in a fight."

I laughed.

"Three."

I held onto his hand tightly as we jumped over the edge.

My feet felt like lead as I walked through the lobby.

I still hated Hera.

But we had made emends. Or, at least, she had taken claim to me when I had gotten married and raised my daughter, Sarah. She had to. It was Hera's godly duty.

But I had never felt such hate for Hera as I did this minute.

How could she do this to me?

She said it was already done, that there was nothing she could do about it. She claimed that, even though she had made it that way, she couldn't take it back. It had already taken effect, and not even Zeus himself could fix it now.

But I had trouble believing the goddess now.

After everything she had done to me.

I pressed the elevator button, and the doors shot open.

Any other day, I would have loved this. But it seemed petty now.

I pressed my floor, and the elevator eased up floor after floor.

As I got closer to my floor, I kicked off my high heels and picked them up.

Ding.

The door clicked open.

I thought of my day.

It had started out fine.

I ate breakfast with Sarah.

I dropped her off at school.

I took the beautiful day to my advantage and walked through the park.

The park. Oh that damn park.

It had easily earned its way into the list of places that I hate the most.

I had been happy to have to go to Olympus. I had gotten to focus myself into work instead of my life. And I had even skipped lunch with Malcolm and went into the office. I had stayed for overtime, basically begging everyone for something to do.

But, when the clock struck eight thirty, I had nothing.

And I was forced to leave my work and come back to earth.

I fished around my purse for my keys, and I shoved in in the lock.

I managed what little strength I could to force the door open.

I threw my purse and shoes down on by the door, and I came into the living room.

"Mommy!"

I smiled and knelt to the ground as the seven year old girl ran to hug me.

"Hey, Sarah, shouldn't you be in bed by now?"

"I talked Daddy into letting me stay up until you got home," Sarah smiled her bubbly smile, "What took you so long?"

"Sorry, Cutie," I pushed some hair out of her eyes, "I just had to do some work."

Sarah nodded like she understood, but I could tell that she wished that I had been home.

"But I promise that I'll be picking you up from school early tomorrow. We're going to hang out all day," I smiled at Sarah.

Sarah's smile widened, and she was about to respond when someone interrupted her.

"Alright, Mommy's home now. It's time for bed, Sarah."

Sarah, not leaving my grasp, looked to her father, who was cleaning up an orange juice spill from the kitchen countertop.

My heart turned to lead.

"Buh?"

"Bed."

Sarah pouted.

"Daddy's right," I kissed the top of Sarah's head, "You've got to get to bed for school, Sarah."

"Alright," Sarah told me as she finally let go of me and stomped up the stairs.

"I'll come tuck you in later, Sarah," Percy told her, but I couldn't make out what Sarah grumbled under her breath.

After the door slammed, I weakly stood up and got rid of the strong mask I had put on for Sarah's sake.

"You okay, Annie?" Percy left the kitchen, stain and all, and he came to stroke my cheek.

I set my hand on top of his, and let a stray tear fall as I shook my head.

But after that tear fell, I couldn't hold anymore back.

Percy wrapped his strong arms around me, and he rubbed my back, trying to soothe me.

"It's alright, Annabeth. Anything that happened. It's alright," he smiled as he kissed the top of my head.

But I shook my head again, though I could barely do so with my head nestled in his neck.

"Tell me what happened, Annabeth."

So, I did.

I told him everything.

Starting with my morning.

And ending with the reason I was crying.

I've had this chapter planned for a long time, and I just couldnt help but continue their soap opera life.

Anyway, what has Hera done?

Find out next time!