74. Treasure
What things do you treasure in life?
Leo sits and holds his newborn baby girl in his arms, rocking back and forth in the rocking chair beside her crib, and ponders the question.
Not what things do you appreciate. Or what things you want. What things did he absolutely treasure?
His friends, he knows. Jason and Piper for sure, they've been with him forever it seems like. Percy, Frank, Annabeth and Hazel. Nico and Will. His group. His posse, you might say. Each and every one of them have been there at a time he needed somebody, they've been great friends to him and he wouldn't be the man he is today, living the life he is, without them. He loves those guys.
He loves his baby girl. Leo knows this with every cell of his being. He used to roll his eyes at parents when they said they would do anything for their babies and that the child is a part of them, etc. He knows parents love their children, but really? He always thought they were exaggerating.
Now he knows they were speaking the truth. He doesn't know how, but the moment April was put in his arms he knew that he would do everything in his power to make her happy. She was his main concern now.
Yes, he treasures April.
"Are you ever coming to bed?"
He looks up and sees Reyna standing in the doorway, smiling at him tiredly. She's in a green bathrobe and her hair is a wavy curtain falling across her shoulder. She's slouching from exhaustion a bit but her eyes are sparkling as the take in the scene before her and he wonders how long she was standing there.
Her face is tired, she's not wearing anything close to fashionable and she might not be feeling her best, but Leo can't help but think that she's the most beautiful thing in the world at that moment.
This woman gave him their baby. Reyna gave him countless kisses and smiles and laughs, she's stayed up all night talking to him before whenever he needed her to. She held his hand all the way through her labor and he kissed her as she fell asleep afterwards. Reyna's given him her heart and taken care of his own.
Leo knows what he treasures most.
It's his family, and nights like these. He treasures his friends, his daughter, and most of all, his wife.
So he smiles at her and stands slowly, careful not to jostle April. "Just coming," he says, before setting their daughter down in her crib, taking Reyna's hand, kissing her softly, and going to bed.