Howdy howdy! Thanks to everyone for reviewing the last chapter. I didn't imagine anyone actually liking it enough to tell me to continue, so I'm very flattered and pleased. As per request and suggestion, there is going to be a chapter for each month after the second (since that was last chapter). So please, enjoy!

Oh, and y'all wanted more cutesy fluff and junk, so this chapter will definitely have that.

oOo

Month Three

Percy woke up early on July 12th to the sound of a quiet chiming sound coming from the living room. He wanted to mumble and curse, but one look at his clock sent him scrambling out of bed. Apparently his alarm hadn't gone off (had he even remembered to set it the night before?), but it wasn't his work he was afraid of being late for. He quickly checked to see if Annabeth was still asleep—which she was—before leaving to address the noise that'd woken him up.

It turned out the sound was coming from the saltwater fountain next to the kitchen. A pleasant voice was telling him to please insert one drachma, and when he did, his dull morning-senses got immediately assaulted by half a dozen faces in party hats throwing confetti.

"Happy birthday!" they all yelled the second Percy appeared in the IM screen, but their confetti-throwing hands paused in mid throw and their voices tapered off like a toy with dying batteries.

"Wait," Jason said, looking seriously self-conscious, and he leaned to look around Percy. "Where's Annabeth?"

"She's still asleep." Percy rubbed his eyes. "Time zones, remember?"

"This is awkward," mumbled Piper to Grover, who was pretending like he hadn't just been playing the birthday song on his reed pipes.

Half a dozen of the people on the other end of the IM shifted uncomfortably, while the other half—including Connor and Travis Stoll, Tyson, and a few Camp counselors were still high-fiving and blowing into their party horns.

"We can, uh… We can come back later," Jason suggested. He brushed some confetti off his shoulder. "Sorry we woke you."

"It's fine. I needed to be up anyways."

"Brother!" Tyson the cyclops stopped laughing long enough to squeeze up in front of his friends, trying to reach his hands into the IM mist. He was a foot taller than he'd been when he was first introduced, which made him barreling towards Percy more frightening than it would've normally been. "You look good!"

"You look good, too, big guy," Percy responded, and it was true; all the years his half-brother had been spending at the underwater forge gave him more of a warrior-cyclop's body than an overgrown middle-schooler with chromosomal issues. "How is everything at Dad's palace?"

"Very good. Daddy knows that you're having a baby."

"Not me," he reminded Tyson, not for the first time. "I'm not having a baby. Annabeth is."

"Right," Tyson nodded, as if he didn't catch his mistake, and said again, "Daddy knows."

"The whole demigod world knows, it seems." Grover laughed a quiet, bleating laugh and tugged at his never-changing goatee. "Most of the current campers haven't ever even met you or Annabeth, yet you're all they seem to talk about: the famous Annabeth and Percy Jackson and the mini Jackson."

"'Mini Jackson'?" Percy asked, feeling his nose wrinkle.

"I-I don't like that term, either," Grover said quickly, "It's weird."

"What's really weird," butted in one of the Stoll brothers, wearing three party hats—one over each ear and one on the top of his head, "is how Clarisse ever managed to shove your head in the toilets."

Clarisse, who'd obviously refused a hat, scoffed. "It's gotten too big lately, with all this hero talk."

Although he inwardly wondered how anyone managed to convince the daughter of Ares to be there, Percy didn't mention it. He opened his mouth to ask about Chiron when a clamor of doorknobs from down the hall interrupted him.

"Oh, I think Annabeth's awake," he said quickly. "Maybe she'll—"

There was a loud bang like the toilet lid flying open and the unpleasant sound of sickness following shortly after.

"I've got to go. You can try to call later if you want." Without waiting for a response, Percy turned the IM off and ran down the hall to the bathroom.

Percy skidded to a stop in front of the bathroom door and opened it uncertainly. "…Annabeth?"

Annabeth was on her knees, hunched over the toilet. "I'm fine," she insisted in an embarrassed, sore-throated tone. "You should leave. You don't want to see—" Her body convulsed in pain and she retched again into the tank.

There was nothing particularly terrible about the situation, Percy thought. He didn't like the idea of leaving her alone to be sick, but even if he considered it, it wasn't like he hadn't seen worse things. Before they ever started dating, she'd gotten sick over at his house and had actually vomited on him before.

"Easy," Percy said, sitting on the rim of the bathtub and reaching over to hold Annabeth's bedhead hair out of her face as she spat.

"You know," Annabeth panted, slumping against her husband's leg in exhaustion, "I always kind of thought that movies and books really exaggerated morning sickness, but this is terrible. It's not as bad as Tartarus, but then again, nothing should ever be that bad." She stifled a sickly burp. "It still feels like I'm dying. What is this—the fourth day in a row?"

"Fifth," Percy responded unhelpfully, offering her a tissue. "It'll pass soon."

"Easy for you to say." Her face contorted in disgust as she flushed the toilet and heaved herself up onto the rim of the tub next to Percy. "Guys don't have to put up with morning sickness or cramping."

"I thank the gods for that every day." Although Percy had a good laugh at that, it only earned him a little scowl from Annabeth. He put his arm around her. "So, can you do me a favor?"

Annabeth's eyebrows rose so far into her hairline they almost disappeared in what was the most impressive incredulous look she'd ever given. "I guess it depends," she answered, standing up and hobbling over to the sink to rinse her mouth. "I'm really not in the mood for nude modeling, though."

"Are you kidding?" Percy laughed. "I can't paint. Anyways, I was wondering if you could go back to bed and pretend to be asleep while I made breakfast."

Annabeth looked at him through the mirror and frowned through a mouthful of toothpaste. "…Why?"

"Don't tell me you forgot what today is."

Her eyebrows furrowed, and she stared into the sink for a second before she remembered. "Oh." Even through her attempt at a straight face, Annabeth's smile shone past her Crest mustache. "Oh, yeah. Well, I'm up now. It'd be kind of pointless…"

"Of course it wouldn't. You still haven't had breakfast, have you?"

"…You know I haven't."

"Then get that butt of yours back into bed."

"That's a very nice thought," Annabeth said, turning the sink off, "but honestly I shouldn't eat until later today. I would probably just throw anything you make for me up."

"Then what am I supposed to do for you on the morning of your birthday?" Percy opened the door for her and helped her out. "Breakfast in bed is a tradition."

"Let me go lie down for another hour or two, and maybe you can think about making me lunch in bed."

Percy wanted to complain, but he learned better than that a long time ago. He did not argue with the queen, especially on her birthday, especially when she had all sorts of pregnant hormones raging through her body. They had already accepted the fact that she was definitely not one of those women whose bodies took pregnancy with a grain of salt until a couple months before the birth. Every cell inside of her was against her happiness and compassion, or so she said.

"You can come with me if you want," Annabeth said after a few seconds of Percy's silence. Her eyes glinted. "Don't worry; I brushed my teeth." She didn't wait for a response before shuffling back to their bedroom and crawling ungracefully under the covers.

Although Percy never really held his breath on the manner, he guessed that he wasn't invited to bed to do anything except possibly cuddle. With those kinds of unpredictable hormones in her body, Annabeth would probably change her mood before they even did anything and kick him out of bed. Even so, it was obvious she didn't want anything from him right then because she was still wearing her little owl-printed socks and hugging a pillow to her chest.

"I haven't been replaced have I?" Percy joked, tugging the pillow from her arms and wrapping his own around her waist.

"Gods," Annabeth replied, squirming sleepily in his embrace. "I don't know whether I hate or love you touching me right now."

She'd only gotten like that a few times before, and the last time ended up with him sleeping on the floor all night. Some part of him felt like girls shouldn't get that crazy with hormones so early in, but what did he know? He was only on page 4 of one of the books they'd bought. Maybe it was just her.

"Your feet are cold." Annabeth sat up and tucked a bit of the blanket between her feet and Percy's, and then she lay back down. "Morning sickness isn't contagious, moron. You can still kiss me."

So demanding, thought Percy teasingly, but he was only grateful she didn't want to push him out of the bed. However, they only kissed for a few minutes before Annabeth got tired and fell asleep with her face pressed against his shoulder.

A few minutes after Annabeth fell asleep, it came to Percy's attention that he had ADHD and simply couldn't just lay there with his own thoughts any longer. He got up without disrupting the snoring girl beside him and left to go back into the kitchen.

Percy loved Annabeth with all his heart, and he was more than excited for her to be pregnant, but it was hard for the both of them, even if they'd only known for a month.

The first week after the news was broken, it seemed as though Annabeth was, too. She had only two emotions: resignation and panic. One moment she would be draped over the side of the couch, making obvious attempts to comfort herself, and the next, she would be locked inside the bathroom and all Percy would hear from behind the door was splashes of water and sobs of, "I can't do this, I can't…"

It got better after a week, but Annabeth more or less accepted her pregnancy. She made her best efforts to not be negative or avoid the subject of babies any time it came up, and Percy appreciated it. Nevertheless, he was always cautious about what he said, because he knew that it would take longer than just a month to get to the level of talking about taboo things like names and nurseries.

Percy didn't mind much, though. He was just happy his future with Annabeth was finally starting. He was going to be the best. dad. ever. There was even a mental list he had made of all the things he would do better than his own dad (which was a very, very long list). No matter if it was a boy or a girl, he made a vow to all the gods to be there for it no matter what happened. They were going to spend time doing things together, even if he didn't feel like doing them. Although he was never going to admit it to Annabeth, some part of him wished that it was a girl so he could sit in her room in a circle of her stuffed animals drinking juice from teacups and trying to remember to keep his pinky up.

Gods, Percy thought, rubbing his face. What have I become?

It was right before noon when there was any sign of life from the bedroom where Annabeth had been sleeping. Percy was folding linin on the couch when he heard a noise like a muted cheer from the room, but decided to investigate only after he figured out how to fold that gods-forsaken fitted sheet. When he finally managed, though, Annabeth was already leaving the bedroom.

"Happy noon," Percy said cheerily, setting a towel on a stack next to him. "You look gorgeous."

Annabeth, whose hair was an afro and complexion was a pasty green, squinted attractively at him. "It smells like pie in here," was her response.

"Oh, yeah!" Percy fished the last sock out of the laundry basket. "You said the other day you didn't want cake or a party, so I decided on a pie for our picnic later. It took me so long to make sense of the recipe I only just got it in the oven like fifteen minutes ago."

The little twinkle returned to Annabeth's eye, and she smoothed her hair away from her face involuntarily. "We're going on a picnic later?"

"Of course. As soon as the pie cools and I call a repairman."

"Oh, gods. What happened this time?"

"I may have broken our dryer, but," Percy added before he was yelled at, "I put the fire out within seconds so maybe it's not too far gone."

"…You set the dryer on fire?"

"It was totally an accident. I was shocked you didn't wake up, actually. The fire alarm was pretty loud."

For some reason, Annabeth restrained saying anything more, and she half-turned in the direction of the bathroom. "No, I…I woke up from a nightmare," she said, almost to herself. "I was about to get up when Camp IMed to wish me a happy birthday. I forgot how overbearing they can be when all in the same place together, especially when you've just woken up."

Percy, while on the way past to stuff the laundry in the linin closet, paused to give Annabeth a kiss on the forehead. "Sorry I wasn't there when you woke. I do wonder, though, why the IM appeared in the bedroom and didn't go straight through the saltwater fountain like it did earlier."

"I was already up when they called. I don't think Iris likes to interrupt people doing other things when there's a fountain nearby, though," Annabeth shut the bathroom door behind her, but kept talking, "which explains why we don't ever get any IMs while naked in the shower or anything."

Percy tried not to laugh at the mental images.

When Annabeth was out of the bathroom, they worked together on getting their picnic ready. Percy had already dug several snacks from the pantry and put them in a basket, but as his wife so frankly pointed out, they needed real food.

"I don't mean to be sexist at all," Percy said, pulling a bag of Ziplocs from a drawer, "but you're really good at making sandwiches."

Annabeth, who had her hair pulled away from her face in a bandana, glanced over at him with an amused expression. "Just because I put more on a sandwich than just meat and cheese doesn't mean that I'm culinarily talented. "

"You make a pretty mean lasagna, too." When his wife didn't answer, Percy asked, "Speaking of food, how are you feeling? Any better?"

"Yeah, I guess. Pass me that plate over there, will you?"

Something in her tone made Percy suspicious, but he knew she wouldn't eat anything she thought she couldn't keep down, so he dropped the subject.

A few minutes later, everything was packed up, and Percy and Annabeth were in the living room pulling on their shoes.

"So where are we going for this picnic?" asked Annabeth as she retied the cords of her cargo pants.

"Somewhere past Temple Hill, hopefully near the lake," Percy answered. "Maybe we can stop and leave food at our parent's alters; it's been a while since we've done that."

"Maybe we can go swimming, too."

No need to bring swimsuits, Percy was about to say suggestively, but he caught himself just in time. If he said that, he would probably be pummeled. Instead, he cleared his throat and stood. "I'm going to go put mine on, then."

He tried to be swift in exchanging boxers for swim trunks underneath his jeans, but when he left the bedroom, Annabeth was already changed.

"About time," she joked, zipping up a jacket over a bikini top. "You take ages getting dressed."

"I was in there for, like, thirty seconds," Percy protested, picking up their picnic basket from the couch. "You're just extraordinarily impatient."

A challenging expression narrowed Annabeth's eyes. "If you're going to call me any names on my birthday, it had better be 'Your Highness.'"

Percy opened their apartment door and bowed for her to go before him.

"That's what I thought." However, Annabeth wasn't as annoyed as she let on, because on her way past him, she hooked her finger into the collar of his T-shirt and kissed him.

It was a long walk from the apartment to the picnic spot. The shortest route would've been straight south, but they would've had to sprout wings and fly across the lake, and that wasn't happening. Instead, they walked west across New Rome hand-in-hand, until they got to the Pomerian Line.

"Jackson," sniffed Terminus, scrunching his marble-carved eyebrows. "I hope you're not leaving to go wreak more havoc, are you?"

"Absolutely not," Percy said. "I'm clean-cut. A new man. No more destruction for me." When he saw the skeptical look Annabeth gave him, he added, "Most of the time."

"Yes, of course." If the statue had any visible pupils, he would've been rolling them. "Do you want your pen back?"

"Nah. You can hold onto it. We should be going, though." Percy stepped through the line. "Catch you later, Terminus."

To their back, the statue said, "I'll be keeping an eye on you, Jackson."

The sun was hot, but a nice summer wind was blowing across the fields and making the hike less than miserable. They followed the Little Tiber around the southern edge of New Rome, wading through shin-high grass and wildflowers for half a mile.

Every five minutes or so, Percy would pause and ask Annabeth how she was holding up. Each time, Annabeth would hit him in the arm and tell him she wasn't dying, and then they would move on.

It took them a while, but finally they arrived at the base of Temple Hill, close to the mouth of the Little Tiber. Instead of going up the path, they cut up the other side and took a minute to lay a portion of their picnic on the alters to Neptune and Minerva out of respect.

"Technically, they aren't actually our parents," Percy pointed out on the way back down.

"Yes, technically, but we're claiming our heritage by living here in New Rome, so we have to show respect."

"I know, I was just saying…"

Almost directly between the lake and Temple Hill was the perfect picnic spot. It was not quite as tall as Temple Hill, but it was just as flat and offered an amazing view.

"We should come here more often," Annabeth said quietly, gazing out over the lake and New Rome before turning back to help spread the blanket out. "It's beautiful."

"Yes, it is," Percy agreed, but he wasn't looking at the lake.

Annabeth pretended not to notice as she reached into the basket to pull out all the food they brought. As she brought out the triangles of sandwiches she made, Percy poured muslum into two plastic glasses. Neither of them were of legal drinking age, but those rules didn't really apply to where they were living. They didn't drink often, anyways; nearly all of the alcoholic beverages offered in New Rome were disgusting.

"Annabeth." Percy handed a glass to her and held his own up. "To living to see your twentieth birthday."

"I can toast to that." Annabeth laughed and touched her glass to his. "If you'd told me when I was twelve I would live this long I would've laughed."

"You probably would've laughed at a lot of things in your life today."

"Yeah, like being married to you. Eight years ago I was fully prepared to put you out of your misery at any given moment." She took a sip of the drink and pressed her lips together sweetly. "Despite everything terrible that's happened in our lives, I'd like to believe the Fates favor us. These days, at least."

Percy laughed. "Don't jinx it, now," he said, handing her a sandwich. "I'm enjoying this."

"Me, too, Seaweed Brain."

For a long while, Percy and Annabeth sat there on their checkered picnic blanket, feasting on sandwiches, fruit, and delicious pie while seagulls called around them. Thankfully, Annabeth's complexion returned to normal and the last of her sickness ebbed away.

Even from their spot far away from any people, sounds of the city were caught on the wind and carried over. They heard children calling to one another, merriment and bells of lakeside shops. Every push of the breeze sent the grass around them hissing gently and stirred the smell of wildflowers.

It was too perfect; Percy never imagined deserving something like that. He'd lived in New York his whole life, fighting monsters and trying to survive. He never once thought he would end up having a picnic in California in a valley of happiness. It was unheard of.

Annabeth stretched her legs over Percy's as they talked. They poured themselves more muslum and laughed over their plastic glasses. Slowly, as they talked, the wine snuck into Percy's head. He would just watch Annabeth as she talked, mesmerized. Her lips were stained purple from the blueberry pie, and after a while, Percy just couldn't take it anymore. Right in the middle of Annabeth's sentence, he leaned over and kissed her.

Just as he thought, it tasted like blueberries and sugar.

"You interrupted me," Annabeth slurred against his mouth, almost involuntarily shutting her eyes.

"I'm not sorry," Percy replied. He put one of his hands behind her head and twisted to press her closer.

After a second more of trying to protest weakly, Annabeth finally gave in and a soft noise escaped her throat as she surrendered. Percy savored the taste of honeyed wine and berries, and he parted his lips against hers to breathe her in, to absorb her and get lost in her touch. He couldn't think of anything else to do; he couldn't think at all.

Both of Annabeth's knees were bent on either side of Percy's lap, and he could feel every inch of her. Her arms were around his neck, her chest was pressed against his, her hands tangled in his hair. Her heartbeat was so strong that Percy could feel it through her skin.

He broke away after a time, skimming his nose along her jawline and fighting the stars behind his eyelids from oxygen deprival.

"Mm," Percy mumbled against Annabeth's collarbone, attempting to form words from his stupor. "Do you want to go swimming?"

Annabeth, who was out of breath, pulled back to look at him. Her face was bright red, and her eyes were slightly less focused than they normally were. She giggled—and she never giggled. "Percy."

"Yeah?" he said, lacing his fingers behind her back.

"I'm keeping my swimsuit on, okay?"

"Fine."

She kissed him one more time. "Let's go, then."

It took a minute for them to untangle from one another.

"Oh man," Annabeth snorted, pulling herself to her knees with difficulty. "I think I had too much of that wine. I'm started to feel it."

A laugh tried to burst out of Percy, but he forced his mouth closed so it came out as a snort. "Me, too. We would be in serious trouble if monsters attack—weaponless and buzzed. Maybe we could beat them off with our shoes…"

"I'm sure we'll be fine."

They slid down the side of their little hill to the lakeside, where a small, sandy beach awaited. Percy knew he should probably be polite and not watch Annabeth as she shucked off her jacket and pants, but he couldn't force himself to look away.

"I can feel you staring," Annabeth said with her back to him.

Percy didn't say anything as he watched her tug out her hair tie and her blond hair tumbled down her back. There, with her hair platinum from the sun and tanned skin glowing in the bright afternoon light, she looked like she came straight from Sports Illustrated.

Percy said a silent thank -you to the gods and followed his wife into the water.

They had good fun splashing around in the water like they were kids again. The lightness of his head made Percy's will-power and discretion dwindle to almost nothing, though. Every now and then, he would feel his brain stop working, and it took extreme concentration to stop staring at Annabeth and act like nothing had just happened.

For a good hour, they swam around with one another, up until Annabeth froze.

"What's that face for?" Percy asked, laughing at her, and he flicked water in her direction.

Annabeth shifted. "…There's something between my toes, and I think it's alive."

"Is it a fish?" To answer his own question, Percy sank underwater and squinted at the distorted shapes of Annabeth's feet. A few seconds later, he resurfaced. "I don't want to alarm you," he started, "but apparently there are leeches in this side of the lake."

"Leeches?" Although she wasn't like normal girls who would run from the water screaming, Annabeth followed her husband slowly out of the lake until they were standing on the shore, staring down at their legs.

Sure enough, dozens of the slimy suckers were attached all over their legs. One, several inches long, was stuck between two of Annabeth's toes.

A disgusted whimper passed her lips. "I think I might be sick."

"No, don't. Here." In an effort to staunch Annabeth's queasiness, Percy knelt down and gingerly began plucking the leeches off, leaving little dots of blood wherever one was. When he was done, he plucked all them off himself.

"I guess that means we won't be swimming anymore." Annabeth sighed, reaching for the towel they'd set on the beach for when they were done.

As she moved, Percy watched.

"You know, you're about the least-subtle person I have ever known," Annabeth said, rubbing her hair down.

"It's just…" Percy motioned idly to her stomach, but wouldn't meet her eyes because he was a little embarrassed. "I don't mean to stare; you're just unbelievably beautiful."

Pink-faced, Annabeth glanced down at herself, and put both hands to her abdomen. "…You can kind of tell, can't you?"

Percy nodded. He didn't want to continually bring it up, especially on her birthday, but something about it was so striking and pure. Maybe normal guys don't have such thoughts, but Percy couldn't help but feel as though there were three of them there, like it was their first family outing.

"That's your 'I'm thinking something ridiculously cheesy' face," Annabeth said, giving Percy their towel.

"That's because I am." Though he didn't give her any details, he saw on Annabeth's face that she probably understood what he was imagining. He dried himself and took her hand to go back up the hill.

Within minutes of relaxing back on the picnic blanket, the sun dried them out the rest of the way. Percy and Annabeth were laying side-by-side, their heads touching and ankles crossed, staring up at the clouds passing by.

"Hey, Perce?" Annabeth turned her head to look over at her husband. When he looked over at her, too, she grinned. "Thanks for such an amazing birthday."

"It's not over yet." Percy sat up.

He'd been waiting for that moment for days.

Annabeth watched curiously as Percy pulled the lining of the basket up, revealing a hidden pocket. When he drew his hand out, an envelope with a little green ribbon on it was pinched between his fingers.

"Happy birthday," he said playfully, handing her the envelope.

Eyebrows rose suspiciously, Annabeth took the package and tugged out the contents. Her eyes flit back and forth as she read the piece of paper, widening a fraction at the end. Without looking up, she set the paper down and read the two smaller slips of paper.

"Perce…" she said quietly in awe, finally looking up and meeting his eyes. "Thank you. I don't want to know how much this took you."

Pride lifted Percy's chest. "Just some research. It's not quite a straight shot, but a crooked train ride cross-country back to New York for two weeks ought to be fun, right?"

Annabeth's mouth puckered in an effort not to smile even wider. "Did you purposefully include all these stops? It says here we're first taking an unusual detour nearly two hundred miles south before heading east."

Percy shrugged.

"That's where the San Simeon is, one of the biggest, most architecturally influential modern-day castles in North America. It's as Roman as an American building can get, and one of my favorites."

"Mmhm." Percy propped his head up with a hand and tried not to let his eyes glaze over.

"Most of the stops after that are in the east," Annabeth continuing in the same accusatory tone, reading from the page, "Like in Chicago, where you know another two of my favorite pieces of architecture are. And Virginia, where the University of Virginia, the most architecturally famous university in America, is. Oh, look, and we're going through Washington D.C. to see the Capitol Building. Then up through Bear Run, Pennsylvania, where Fallingwater is."

Annabeth's grey slid up from the ticket she was reading to lock onto her husband's eyes. "Try telling me those are all coincidences."

Having a hard time fighting maniacal laughter in, Percy just shrugged his shoulders again. "I was going to wait until you were done to tell you that, duh. I know your favorite pieces of architecture. If we were going to go across the country, we might as well stop and sight-see on the way. Here." He fished one of those cheap disposable cameras from the hidden picnic basket pocket and tossed it to her.

Annabeth looked incredibly touched. "You can't stand architecture…" she said weakly.

"But you love it, so I don't mind. It could be fun."

She took a deep breath, blinking furiously, and she dropped her hands to her lap. "Thank you, Percy. Really. I probably won't be able to give you quite as amazing a gift on your birthday, you realize. I can't top this."

"It doesn't matter." Percy put his arm around Annabeth and kissed her cheek. His nose filled with the smell of her shampoo. "You're the best gift I could ever have."

"Want some wine with that cheese?" However joking her tone was, her eyes betrayed how moved she was, shining brighter than a full moon.

Percy loved getting that reaction out of her.

He leaned back, letting her prop her head up on his shoulder as they looked up at the sky. It was beginning to darken as the sun went down, not touching the horizon yet but still turning the world periwinkle with dusk.

"Maybe we should start heading back," Percy suggested absentmindedly, watching one of the clouds change shape.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right."

Reluctantly, they both got up and put their clothes back on over their swimsuits. After replacing the leftovers into the picnic basket, they folded the blanket and towel and headed out again.

When they passed Terminus, the statue just nodded in boredom as they passed.

The city was rocking in the twilight, its roar turned into a murmur as the people hurried back home for the night. Almost every shop they passed was either closed or closing, and the only remaining laughter was from behind closed windows as children were tucked into bed.

Percy and Annabeth made it to their apartment just before the sun hit the horizon. Percy opened the door for his wife silently, and when they were back inside they took a minute to put all the foodstuffs back into the kitchen.

"Hey, Percy, I just thought of something," Annabeth said as they left the kitchen, stretching her arms above her head.

"What is that?"

"You got time off work for this trip, right? That's two weeks you would be gone."

"Of course I got time off. Next week, is it?" Percy stuck his tongue out at her as they went into their bedroom. "Do you have college?"

"I finished the semester last week, remember?" As usual, Annabeth didn't seem too bothered by her husband's idiocy. "I don't think I'm going to start my last semester until next year, though. I shouldn't bring a newborn to school."

At the mention of their kid, Percy's chest got all fuzzy and warm. He changed into pajama pants and stretched out on his side next to Annabeth, reaching an arm out to put around her waist snugly.

"Thanks for the picnic, Percy," Annabeth said sleepily, resting her cheek on the top of his head. "It was fun."

"Any time. I'm glad you're feeling better."

They settled down together, pulling the blankets up to their chins.

"Love you, Perce."

"I love you, too, Annabeth. Sweet dreams."

However, Annabeth was already asleep. Percy smiled to himself and closed his own eyes, basking in the contentment of his own life until he drifted away.

oOo

Thanks for reading! The next chapter might take a bit, but no worries. I think it's going to be during Percy's birthday. What should they do? What do yall think the chapter should be about?

P.S: Muslum is a drink the middle-and-upper classes of ancient Rome drank. It was a mixture of finely aged wine with honey and some other spices and junk. Yummy yum yum. It's not super-duper alcoholic either.

P.P.S: I know people shouldn't drink when they're pregnant. That'll be addressed next chapter, and when it's early-ish in the pregnancy and not a whole lot, you know...