Mother of the Bride
"You look so beautiful," Frederick Chase tells his only daughter, as his wife puts the finishing touches on her hair.
"Thank you Dad," Annabeth says trying to hold back tears.
"There," her stepmother says as she puts her hands on Annabeth's shoulders.
"Thank you so much, Mom," Annabeth says then hugs her stepmother. If you had told Annabeth on the day she met her true love, the man she will marry today, that she would have the loving relationship with her family that she now enjoys, she would have told you to take a flying leap off of Mt. Olympus, but she loves her family and she really has Percy to thank for it.
"Are you sure I can't talk you out of this?" her father asks for about the three-hundredth time.
"No Daddy," Annabeth says, "I love Percy, and nobody could talk me out of this."
"I do not intend to talk," comes a voice from out of nowhere. Both Mr. Chase and his wife look around to see who could have made the comment, but Annabeth instantly knows even before the shimmer becomes visible and her mother appears.
"Mother," Annabeth says watching, as her mom transforms into the room.
"Athena," Frederick says a little stunned at seeing his daughter's mother again after all this time.
Athena ignores her former love and focuses on her daughter. "Did you think you could pull this off behind my back?" she asks calmly.
"Percy and I came to you and told you we were getting married. We aren't hiding anything from you," her daughter says.
"Then why was I not invited here today?" her mom continues.
"We know you don't approve. I didn't think you would want to be here for me today," Annabeth tells her.
"You are right, I do not approve, and I will not stand aside and let this happen," Athena tells her rather forcefully.
"Mother, please," Annabeth says getting upset.
"Annabeth, maybe I should have a few moments with your mother," her dad says now interceding before either of them says something that causes Athena to blow the roof off of the cabin.
"Athena," Frederick says motioning for them to step outside of the room.
"Why have you not put a stop to this already," Athena says accusingly to Frederick as soon as the door is closed.
"Because our daughter loves that boy and he loves her, and they make each other complete," he tells her.
"That boy is the son of Poseidon," she says with a hateful emphasis on the words son and Poseidon, "I will not allow her to marry him."
"She's a grown woman Athena. She is allowed to make her own choices in life," he insists.
"Not this choice," she demands.
"I of all people understand that you have the power to do many things including blasting Percy into star dust, but today you cannot be Athena Goddess of Wisdom and Warfare. You need to be Athena Annabeth's mom, mother of the bride," he tells her softly.
"I cannot," she says.
Frederick says nothing else for several seconds then says, "You are still the most beautiful woman I have ever seen."
"You have a wife now," she tells him with a smile.
"I do, and I would never betray her or my commitment, but that does not change how I feel, felt, about you, and I know that I didn't want Annabeth when you first sent her to me, but I love our daughter. She is a part of you that I will always have," he tells her.
"Why couldn't she have fallen in love with some mortal? That would have been easier to take then that boy," Athena says changing the subject back to her daughter's betrothed.
"We don't always choose who we fall in love with, but Percy is a good, honest, faithful young man and he would do anything for our daughter," he says.
"That is sometimes the problem," she says.
"He hasn't let Olympus, you or our daughter down yet," he reminds her. Athena doesn't reply as honestly there is no debate in that. "She loves you. She wants your approval but please, if you can't give her that, please don't ruin her life, her happiness," he begs.
"May I speak with her alone?" Athena finally asks.
Frederick leads Athena back into the room where their daughter and his wife wait. "Sweetheart, let's give them a few minutes," he says holding his hand out for his wife.
"Just remember how much Percy loves you," Annabeth's stepmother says as she lets go of her stepdaughter's hand. Mrs. Chase then stops and says, "My Lady," as she gives Athena a polite nod of the head.
Once the Chase's are out of the room and they are alone, Annabeth says, "I love him Mom."
"That has never been the question," her mother says then takes her hand and gently caresses it which actually shocks Annabeth, as her mother has never been, well, tender. "You know, I have always made the choice to never marry. Oh there have been men, mortals mostly, that have occasionally made me question that choice. Your father is one of those men. I could have easily stayed with him for his lifetime and been happy, but in the end that is not really a choice I could make," Athena says as she now takes a seat on the bed with her daughter.
"It's hard sometimes to be a half-blood. I can't imagine being a goddess for thousands of years," Annabeth tells her.
"I know I seem cold to you most of the time," Athena tells her.
"Mom it's…" her daughter starts to say then is stopped.
"The hardest part of immortality is watching your children pass before your eyes. I have considered the wisdom of never bearing another child to spare myself the pain of losing them, but alas the world still needs the wisdom of my children." Annabeth doesn't know exactly what to say to this, so she says nothing. Athena caresses her daughter's face now and continues, "I could not take you in when you needed me. It broke my heart that I was not in a position to do so. I knew when you were born that you would be one of the special ones. I wanted to keep you for myself but it was forbidden by my father. A few like George, Ulysses, Dwight they all had that something special, like you my beautiful Annabeth. So few of my daughters have been given a chance to reach the same level as some of my sons although that is changing as Western Civilization is more accepting of the power of a strong woman. Listen to me."
"Mom I will always be there to fight when you need me," Annabeth now says.
"Once you have children, Percy will never let you do that," her mom says then continues, "I will never let you do that."
"So you don't want me to ever have a child?" her daughter asks.
"I want you to be happy."
"I've never been more happy then when I'm with Percy," Annabeth says.
"Then I give you my blessing, my beautiful daughter," her mother says then gently kisses her cheek.
"Thank you Mom," Annabeth says as she hugs her mother tightly.
"This does not mean that I will not continue to ride Percy's back about every little thing," Athena now says with a smile.
"I don't think he would want it any other way," her daughter agrees.