Hi Everyone! Wow, so many reviews! That's exciting! Since school has started, I am on a strict schedule, so I will be updating every week on Wednesdays. If I am late, feel free to review: UPDATE ALREADY! And I totally will. I just updated early today because I felt like it. I also finished planning out the entire story [since I was just making it up as I went along so far]. I think I like where this is heading. Expect about fifteen chapters. :D Anyway, enjoy and have an amazing week!

Chapter Five

"So that's it?" His daughter replied, putting down her empty coffee mug.

"That's what?" The old man replied, slightly fazed after his story was interrupted.

"You and mama. You became friends, then best friends, then you got married…" She smiled, leaning into her father's arms. "That was easy." The old man snorted [a strange sight to see], and laughed, laugh lines etched around his eyes.

"Don't you dare think for a moment that we were friends." He scolded his daughter, "In fact, right after Reyna pried her dogs off of me, she asked me, politely of course, to leave. And we didn't see each other for another month." The woman gawked at her father.

"I don't get it. You didn't see each other for a month?"

"We weren't friends. We were…" The elder man searched his mind for the right word, "mutual associates."

The old man received a strange look from his daughter. She scrunched up her nose and furrowed her brows in thought. She looked so much like her mother; the old man's heart sagged in distress. Sighing, he continued, "Well, of course we saw each other. When I had lunch with the six, we exchanged a nod when she walked by. Sometimes, I would take time from my extremely busy schedule and walk to the Camp Jupiter grocery store to buy more coffee where I would see Reyna stocking up on marshmallows and licorice. You know how your mother feels about her groceries.

Once, I was visiting Jason at the Praetor quarters and accidently walked into a room where Reyna was yelling furiously at Octavian." He chuckled at the memory. "Obviously, I excused myself. Really, I pitied Octavian for having to bear Reyna's wrath."

Right now, the old man wished he could bear his wife's wrath. His gaze went over to the purple chaise longue and he wished, oh how much he wished, that he could put his arms around his wife again. Where was her furious temper when he needed it? Where was that self satisfying smirk when he made a mistake? Where was the girl whose hair smelled like lavender?

Seeing that her father's troubled state, the woman put her hand on his shoulder and said, "You miss her a lot, don't you?"

A small smile wavered on the man's lips, "Yeah, I do Mija."

"It's okay if you don't want to finish the story," the woman recognized her father's emotional condition; he wouldn't get out of his funk for at least a week.

"No, no. I'll finish the story. Let's see, where was I? We didn't see each other for a while. But exactly a month later, almost to the day, we met again." The sad smile grew on his face, "Ahh! That was a strange meeting, but a wonderful one all the same. It's when your mother and I became friends, you know."

"Really?" The woman asked, "Well, go on!"

Sensing his daughter's impatience, the old man rose to his feet and picked up the coffee mugs. Slowly, slower than one should at his age, the man walked to the kitchen and placed the mugs in the sink. He heard a distinct wail of annoyance, "Papa!" come from the living room and he shook his head to himself. Really, sometimes the likeness between mother and daughter was amazing.

By the time he reached the living room couch, his daughter was almost jumping. "Papa, sit down and tell me what happened, or so help me, I… I…" She trailed off, unable to think of a suitable threat. After thinking for several moments, she relented, "Just tell me."

"Of course, so yes. I wasn't really a sports buff like Jason, but, I did like to run. You know, to clear my mind, work off the coffee, get some sun. But on that particular day, I wasn't the only one to go on a jog." The old man's eyes twinkled as he continued the story, the perfect, almost serene setting, a memory he could not shake.