Oh my God, I'm so sorry for not updating in like 12 years. Really, I am. But reading The House of Hades has given me a little kick to continue this story! Please please enjoy!
Annabeth leaned back against the carpet in Lilly's room, watching as she was digging through her closet to find her favorite princess dress. Percy was in the living room watching some scary, rated R movie that Lilly definitely wasn't allowed to watch. Annabeth, on the other hand, was dragged into Lilly's room as she begged her to play dress up with her. As much as she loved scary movies, she couldn't say no-especially when Lilly was giving her those big puppy dog eyes she must have inherited from Percy.
So here Annabeth was, waiting patiently for Lilly to find yet another dress to change into. She's changed at least twenty-seven times. Annabeth adjusted her skirt and then reached up to make sure her tiara was not entirely crooked.
"Found it!" Lilly emitted triumphantly a moment later, holding up a light blue dress. Annabeth held out her hands and Lilly passed it over and gripped Annabeth's shoulders so she could get into the dress without breaking anything.
"You look amazing," Annabeth commented, smiling.
"Thank you, Queen Annabeth!"
Someone gently tapped on the door before they opened it and Percy popped his head in.
"You don't have work today, do you?" he asked Annabeth, his eyes glancing at her tiara.
"I'm not at work, am I?"
Percy thought for a moment before he smiled.
"Right. Awesome. Who wants to go to the zoo?"
Lilly screamed and threw her tiara off of her head as she flew into Percy's arms. "I do, I do!"
Annabeth, narrowly missing a tiara to the eye, stood and straightened her shorts. Percy smiled at her while he tried to keep Lilly from squirming around in his arms.
"Are you up for it?" he asked as Lilly broke free of his arms and threw her princess dress off. She ran over to her dresser that held her clothes and began to look for something to wear. Annabeth watched her, amused.
"Yeah, sure."
Annabeth stood as Lilly dressed herself and Percy ran around the apartment looking for his keys. She could tell he was sometimes absentminded and wondered how he got ready in the morning without someone reminding him to turn the coffee machine off or that his keys were in his jeans from last night. Maybe, she thought, he was used to it and didn't notice he was as absentminded as he really was. She herself remembered everything, especially during her morning routine. She would never forget that her phone was always on her nightstand by her bed and her shoes were kept neatly by her bedroom door. Annabeth did not like to live in chaos.
"Found them," Percy said as he emerged from his room dangling his keys. Annabeth was sitting on the couch and helping Lilly put her shoes on. "They were under my bed."
"How do your keys end up under bed?" Annabeth questioned as she followed him out of his front door.
"Not quite sure," Percy replied, smiling at her.
"You should have a place to hang up your keys."
Percy scoffed as he lifted Lilly into her car seat and buckled her in. "I forget I even have keys," he says.
Annabeth shrugs, knowing he's right.
She climbs into the passenger seat and turns around to face Lilly, who animatedly talks about all the animals she'll she like dinosaurs and cats. Annabeth doesn't quite have the heart to tell her there aren't exactly dinosaurs and cats at the zoo.
When they arrive, the sun is beating down on the tops of their heads and radiating off the concrete. Just thirty minutes in, Lilly lifts her arms to Percy and picks her up, looking like he might just melt with her extra body heat. He stops to buy ice cream and Annabeth is sure it's more for his benefit than anyone else's. Especially since Percy and Lilly both have dark hair, she knows their scalp is definitely hotter than hers.
Lilly makes Percy stop at the lion's den for nearly half an hour. And even though he's beginning to sweat, she can tell how much he's really enjoying this. His green eyes, sparkling in the sunlight, slide to meet her grey ones and she's too quick to advert her eyes, making her feel like she was twelve again with a crush. She scolded herself and forced her eyes back toward Percy who was still looking at her.
"Are you enjoying this?" he asked, shifting Lilly to his other side. The little girl twisted her head so that she never lost sight of the lion below her.
"Yes," Annabeth answered truthfully. Percy gave her one of his carefree smiles, and he opened his mouth to say something else when he was cut off.
"Percy?" a girl asked behind Annabeth, and for a moment, Annabeth was terrified that it was Percy's ex-girlfriend (and Lilly's mother), but when she turned, this girl was completely different than what Percy described Mia to look like.
The girl couldn't have been a year or two younger than Annabeth and her caramel colored hair was pulled sideways into a braid. Her stomach showed the unmistakable bump of a pregnancy. Annabeth was confused.
"Piper!" Percy said, and quick as lightning, Lilly shimmied out of her father's arms and flew into Piper's.
"Hey! How have you been? I haven't seen you in what, forty-eight hours?"
Percy laughed and turned towards Annabeth, who was still watching the exchange with her eyebrows furrowed. "Annabeth, this is Piper Grace, she lives next door to me." He turned back to Piper. "Where's Jason?"
"Right here, of course."
A blonde man appeared next to Piper carrying two waters. He had golden hair and strangely electric blue eyes. He was a little shorter than Percy but he was also a little bulkier. To Annabeth, it seemed like they would be the type to argue over power a lot. But Percy grinned and clapped Jason's back and that feeling was gone.
"Piper, Jason, this is my friend Annabeth."
Piper's head turned slightly and Annabeth automatically knew Percy had told her everything about them. She felt her cheeks flush as an automatic response, and she tried to tell her body that she didn't have to be embarrassed about. But she did. She knew she didn't treat Percy fairly after the whole this-is-our-first-date-let's-have-sex thing, and she didn't want to make a bad impression on his friends. But as quickly as it happened, Piper's head was back in align with her body and she was smiling at Annabeth.
"Good to meet you. I've heard about you," she said, her multicolored eyes shining with kindness. Annabeth's body relaxed. So Piper wasn't going to hate her. Good. That was good.
Jason shook her hand and told her how annoying Percy was and how she should never, under any circumstance, give him rules because he will break every single one of them without even blinking. She laughed, knowing by now he was right. Percy reminded her of a cat. They liked to knock things off of desks and have little spurts of energy that causes them to run though out the house. She didn't know why she made that connection, but it somehow…fit.
Percy rolled his eyes and punched Jason in the shoulder.
"Daddy," Lilly said, chewing on the stick of her long gone Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle ice cream. "I want to see the monkeys, please!"
Piper planted Lilly's feet firmly on the ground and then wrapped her now free arms around Jason's waist, taking the water bottle from his hand and opening it. "Well, it was nice seeing you again, Percy. I'll probably see you tonight. Good meeting you, Annabeth. Hopefully, I'll be seeing more of you, too," Piper said, and before Annabeth could reply, they were lost in the crowd.
"I've known her since I was fifteen," Percy said, lifting Lilly back into his arms and looking for the nearest map so he could find out where the monkeys were. "She taught me how to skateboard."
"You can skateboard?" Annabeth asked, amazed.
Percy grinned at her over his shoulder, his green eyes sparkling still. "Yes, of course," he said, and then they were off to find the monkeys.
Annabeth sat on her mattress, staring at the wall and chewing her lip nervously. She had to tell Percy. There was nothing else to do. It suddenly seemed like her apartment was too hot yet she was shivering. She wanted to throw up. How could this happen? How could this possibly happen?
She decided against torturing herself and instead picked up the phone to call Percy. Every ring made her heart pump faster and more of her breath caught in her chest, refusing to exit out of her nose. Instead of Percy, Annabeth was greeted with a blast of the SpongeBob Squarepants theme song, and quite loudly.
"Lilly, will you turn that down, please?" she heard Percy yell, and then, "Hello, Annabeth."
At the sound of his voice, Annabeth wanted to hang up. She shouldn't be doing this. She should handle this on her own. But Percy was involved and she couldn't do that to him.
"Hey," she said, her voice catching.
"Annabeth? Is everything all right?" he asked, his voice so sincere she was sure her heart had broken at the sound of it.
"I need to talk to you, please. As soon as possible."
"You can come over now."
Annabeth pulled into a parking spot outside of Percy's apartment in record time. Her hands were shaking and she pulled the keys out of the ignition and her legs felt like noodles as she climbed the steps to his apartment. The door opened before she even knocked.
"Annabeth," Percy said, ushering her inside and closing the door behind her. He led her over to the couch and offered her something to drink, but she declined politely and asked him to sit down. He took a seat next to her, his fingers tapping against his knees with nervousness.
"Where's Lilly?" Annabeth asked, looking around.
"She's in her room watching a movie," Percy replied.
Annabeth took a deep breath and forced her to make eye contact with Percy. "Percy," she said slowly as if she were testing out his name on her tongue, but she had said in many times before. "Percy," she repeated, "I've missed my period. I was supposed to get it last week but it never came."
Percy stared at her blankly, not completely understanding.
"What?"
"Percy, I think I'm pregnant."
That seemed to get his attention.
"What?" he asked again, this time less blank and more horror. "What? You're pregnant? What?"
He made to stand up but Annabeth quickly reached out and grabbed his arm. "I said I think I'm pregnant. I don't know yet."
"You….pregnant….think?" was all Percy could sputter. If he's reacting this bad, she wondered how it was when he first found out Mia was pregnant. He probably fell into a coma.
"I'm not sure yet. I haven't taken a test or anything," she said quickly, pulling him back down to the couch.
"I just…this happens every time I have sex," he says, frowning miserably at the ground. "I obviously should not have sex anymore. Ever. No more sex for Percy Jackson."
"Percy," Annabeth said, snapping him out of his short-lived depression. "I have to take a pregnancy test. And…I don't really want to be by myself."
Wowie wow. Just a heads up, before you think this is just another story where someone gets pregnant, I'd like to tell you it's not. To see what I mean, stay tuned for the next chapter! Thank you guys for reading and waiting so patiently (except the one guest who told me i took too long updating this story and that i lost a reader...oh well) c: ALSO for the people who keep asking about Annabeth's past, it will rear it's ugly head in exactly (most likely) one or two chapters :)