AN: Sorry this took so long guys, I love you really and will try not to leave it so long again. Please forgive me and enjoy this chapter. Review! Pweese ;(

Chapter 6: A Conversation with Dear Old Mom

Piper had been dreading the day ever since Sebastian had informed the cast about it. In fact the only upsides she could see were that she would sort of be spending time with her dad- which she had been doing a lot of lately. She thought she had spent longer with her Dad in the three weeks since the auditions than she had spent with him in the three years before hand; and Jason would be there.

The fact that Jason would be there had caused Piper a lot of worry. Though they had been betting on the media being more interested in Piper Mclean joining in the film with her father- a fact Sebastian had managed to hide from the media so far (the reporter at the auditions had only been informed of the fact it was to be Tristan McLean's last movie (at least for now). As far as she had known Piper was only there to spend time with her Dad.

However, because Jason had got the main part- now there would be a lot of scrutiny, and people trying to dig up his past. Leo had offered to make a false paper trail and even suggested fake witnesses. In the end however this was decided to be inviting trouble, and though Hazel could help by manipulating the mist so everyone believed the trail- Piper thought it would be too hard on Jason to have to constantly remember false information.

In the end Chiron suggested they stick as close as possible to the truth. Jason and his older sister Thalia were brought up by their alcoholic mother after their father left her. Eventually the pressure got too much for her (and here the story departed from fact) and she pleaded for Jason's father and his new wife to take Jason in. Having done this while Jason was four and Thalia away at school, when Thalia returned she screamed at their mother and ran off. She hadn't been heard of since. Jason had grown up with a distant father, and a stepmother who made no secret of the fact she wanted him nowhere near her. As soon as he reached sixteen he left home, and found out his passion for acting, and here he was.

This story was as close to the truth as could be, and surprisingly enough, if it came under scrutinisation, Hera had agreed to play the evil stepmother and back it up. Jason was extremely grateful to her, although Annabeth (her dislike of Here widely known) simply said it was only because she could get away with shouting at a son of Zeus in public and on T.V. without Zeus being able to protest.

Anyway, now was the day of the press conference, and Piper was nervous. Being a daughter of Aphrodite she was blessed with almost perfect fashion sence, so she could advise her dad and Jason what to wear, and get them looking perfect- but when it came to herself...

She was stood in front of her walk in wardrobe, and she came to the horrifying truth. All her outfits were old! And no she wasn't being a shallow diva, they were literally old. She hadn't lived here in almost two years and had grown a lot while she was away- none of these outfits would fit her, let alone look good!

Piper turned at once to the drachmas on her bedside table. Dragging herself into the on suite bathroom, she turned the shower on and threw in into the mist. "O Fleecy do me a solid; show me the Aphrodite cabin at camp half blood!" Piper waited as the image came in clearer, and saw only one of her siblings was in the cabin. "Mitchell".

Mitchell turned and grinned at her through the mist. "Piper, why are you still in pyjamas? Isn't the press conference today?" Piper smiled at him, and then it dropped.

"Please Mitchell, call a cabin meeting. I don't have anything to wear. Seriously, all my clothes are too small I haven't been here in two years, and the clothes I bought are not suitable for a press conference." Piper couldn't help but feel a small amount of guilt when she saw the terribly panicked look now on her brothers' face; he looked a lot more scared than she did.

"Wait there Piper, I'll assemble the cabin."

Before too long the mist was full of all her siblings' faces, and she swung open the bathroom door so they could see the clothes on the bed. "That's it?" Drew's voice echoed through the mist. "Honey, you have no chance. Sorry sweetie, you're gonna flunk this conference." Piper might have believed she was sorry if she couldn't see the smug grin on her sister's face. Somehow she didn't think Drew meant the apology.

Lacy frowned, and swatted Drew in the arm, "Piper needs fashion aid, and it's out duty as children of Aphrodite to help her."

Joseph, one of her newer siblings turned to her and said. "Is the conference casual dress or smart?"

Piper smiled at him, glad someone was being helpful. "Casual smart, so not ripped jeans, but not Tux or dresses." She turned to look at her bed, covered it t-shirts and various ripped jeans. "I'm so screwed..."

Piper heard a giggle from behind her and turned in confusion. That hadn't come though the iris message, but from the corner of the room, she felt a wave of posh, but still beautiful perfume wash over her... "Mom?"

The iris message disappeared with a wave of her mom's hand and Aphrodite went to sit on the bed, her blond hair swirling in a nonexistent breeze, as she patted the bed beside her. Piper couldn't help but notice that her eyes were almost sky blue today; such a lot like Jason's...

She shook her head and went to sit by her mom, trying to shake of the enchanting effect of her mom's presence. Why did she have to look so much like the guy Piper liked again? She could swear that Aphrodite did it on purpose just to irritate whoever she was talking to.

"Mom? Why are you here?" Piper cautiously made her way over to sit beside her mom.

"Oh sweetie, I know I'm not supposed to see you unless there's some sort of emergency- but really, this is an emergency, off to your fist press conference and nothing to wear. First impressions are incredibly important in the world of filming darling." Aphrodite leapt of the bed, in an incredibly graceful manner, and pulled Piper up, swinging her around and pulling out various outfits from nowhere to hold up against her.

"And besides, how could I miss this occasion to dress my daughter- oh you're going to look wonderful!" Whilst she was talking she threw three of the outfits onto the bed and spun Piper around to look at them. "Which one?"

Piper looked at the three- completely different designs for all of them. A summer dress, with a matching pair of stilettos; a crop top and a denim skirt, with a lacy cardigan and long colourful socks with plain flats; and a pair of skinny jeans with a plain white top and a overlapping chequered shirt and a pair of sandals. They all looked pretty amazing outfits- but that was no surprise when they were picked by the lady of beauty herself. Piper reached forward, immediately discarding the dress, there was no way she was wearing a dress. Besides, as she explained to Aphrodite, "summer's almost over, and I wouldn't want them to think I've just pulled anything out of my wardrobe."

Ignoring Aphrodite's gasp and cry of "Oh, I should have thought of that" which would have been a screech- if the instigator wasn't Aphrodite, as she could never do anything as unladylike as screeching; Piper leant forward and compared the two last outfits, pulling out the bits she wanted. Skinny jeans, with sandals, and the chequered over shirt, but then she turned to her wardrobe and pulled out a camp half-blood shirt.

She turned to her mom, who was watching her with something akin to pride. "Could you make the writing disappear? I don't want to have to answer any awkward questions."

Aphrodite clicked her fingers and Piper was in her chosen outfit, she looked to the mirror and smiled at what she saw- before realising that her mom had added make-up. "No make-up."

"Please..."

"No!"

The make-up vanished, other than the slight eyeliner and mascara making her eyes look bigger and enhancing the multicoloured aspect of them. Piper turned with a smile to her mom, who was wiping away a tear, then engulfing her in a hug. "I'm so proud of you sweetie, my little girls all grown up."

Then Aphrodite disappeared and the door opened. Her dad looked around "We're ready Pipes- wow, you look amazing Pipes. Jason won't be able to take his eyes off you."

"DAD!"