So this turned out interestingly. It started as a desire to have Percy spend a chapter thinking about how lucky he is to have Annabeth and their daughter in his life, then it turned into this. Honestly, though, I'm still really proud of it.

Also, I'd like to officially apologize for the sheer enormity of the time it's taken me to write this, and simply say that my life has been extremely busy lately and it's been all I can do just to stay on top of everything. Especially after my grandfather died (old age) this last Monday...

On another note, this 'fic takes place around five months before the events of Everything.

Disclaimer - I'll say it every time if I have to. The only character in this storyline I have any right whatsoever to is Zoe (Percy and Annabeth's daughter, not the deceased Hunter of Artemis). I'm most certainly not Rick Riordan.


Watching as Annabeth and our daughter slept, I found my eyes irresistibly drawn to the way that Zoe unconsciously clung onto the thin grey fabric of the pyjama top my wife wore, the way that my daughter's slender chest rose and fell with every breath that she took. She'd been born just over a week ago, and she had already succeeded in stealing the hearts of almost everybody we knew. I must be the luckiest person in the world to deserve a family like this, I thought, smiling gently to myself as I watched the two most important people in my life sleep.

As my phone began to ring quietly in my pocket, I smiled at the sight before me one last time before turning and leaving the room, closing the door behind me, leaving my family to their sleep. Walking down the hallway that separated the lounge from the bedroom where my wife and our week old daughter were fast asleep together, I reached into my pocket, pulling out my phone and tapping a button to accept the call before putting it to my ear. "Hello?"

"Percy".

I recognized the voice of the daughter of Aphrodite right away. "Hi, Piper, what can I do for you?"

"Jason and I have some big news. Is Annabeth there?"

I smiled gently, turning on the spot to look back at the door to the bedroom. Noting it was still firmly shut, I shook my head, returning my attention to the phone. "Yeah, Piper, she's here. But I wouldn't disturb her right now. She and Zoe are catching up on some much-needed rest".

Piper paused, probably considering what she was about to say carefully, before speaking again. "Would it be alright if Jason and I came over for a bit then? We have some news for the two of you, and if we're there we'll be able to see Annabeth as soon as she wakes up".

I sighed. I could tell she wasn't going to give up until she got what she wanted, and I also knew that, given half the chance, she wouldn't hesitate to try and charm-speak me into waking Annabeth up just so she could tell us both whatever news she and Jason so badly wanted to share with us. And that was a situation I was not particularly eager to avoid, as a sleep-deprived Annabeth was not a happy one. Especially when someone was unlucky enough to be in such close proximity to her as I was. "Fine. How soon can you be here?"

There was a pause while Piper asked Jason something. I could hear her soft voice, querying, then his voice responding. Piper thanked him, before turning her attention back to me. We can be there between 20 and 30 minutes from now"

"That sounds good. We'll see you soon then".

~Approximately twenty-five minutes later~

Opening the door, I greeted both Jason and Piper before standing aside to let them into the room. "Are Annabeth and Zoe still asleep?" Piper queried casually, already moving towards the couch where she sat whenever she and Jason visited us.

"Probably. They were still asleep when I last checked on them about five minutes ago. Unless they've woken up since then, which I suppose is possible".

As I spoke, there was the sound of bare feet padding down the hallway that separated the lounge from the bedroom where Annabeth and our daughter had been sleeping, accompanied by my wife's quiet murmuring. "On second thoughts, Piper, it sounds like Annabeth's awake after all" I commented, already heading towards the kitchen to start making coffee, knowing as I did that Annabeth would be wanting one soon.

She always liked to have a coffee first thing after waking up, anyway. I heard the door opening and shutting behind me as Annabeth stepped into the room, and I knew the second she paused in confusion, wondering why our friends were there. "Jason? Piper? What… What are you guys doing here?"

I turned, smiling slightly at my blonde-haired wife, chuckling as I noticed that Piper was already bouncing in her seat, arms extended, eager to give my week old daughter (and her god-daughter, since one of the first things Annabeth and I decided on after Zoe was born, after the name, was that we wanted Jason and Piper to be her god-parents) a hug. "Apparently Sparky and Beauty Queen here have some news they want to share with us" I commented, relishing the familiar nicknames.

It felt so good to say them again. "So, what's the news?" Annabeth wondered, settling into the single-seater chair across from Jason and Piper, fixing her grey eyes on the daughter of Aphrodite.

Piper glanced at Jason quickly, then away, and one hand drifted slightly closer to her stomach than it had been before. "We found out just a couple of days ago, and we wanted the both of you to be the first to find out. I'm pregnant".

And that, as I saw Annabeth pause to digest the news for a couple of seconds before throwing herself at Piper and pulling the brunette into a tight hug, was when I knew that, no matter what had happened in the past, or what we'd had to go through to get to this point, the seven of us were lucky. We had each other, we had our lives, and we had our family. And that was really all that mattered.


So there we go. Leave a Review if you want to, I'd definitely love to hear your thoughts.