Chapter Twenty

Three Weeks Later

Percy

"Why did I agree to this?" I ask for what must be the hundredth time as I stare at the wrecked care home. Annabeth and I, having saved up so much money from our jobs, have paid for the house and have bought supplies to help with the fixing up.

Annabeth sighs. "We are doing this for Chiron and it's not that bad. It looks a mess but as soon as we're finished with it it'll be even better than before, I promise," she replies.

"This is going to take a ages," I complain.

"Stop moaning, Seaweed Brain. With the help of my crew back in San Francisco we'll be done in no more than six months. We'll have inspectors in when it's finished and if they approve we can get kids to move in. It's going to be perfect."

"I'm worried Ocean is going to feel left out since we're all going to be working on the house and then the baby will come and it will be even more hectic," I say.

"She'll be fine. You've already insisted that I don't do anything that could harm the baby so while everyone is fixing the place up I'll spend time with her," she replies. I guess that answer is good enough.

I sigh and say, "Okay, let's see what we have to do."

I scan what used to be a cosy living room and find that it's now cold and kind of spooky. "First, we need to fix the lights and make sure all the radiators are working and we'll change the floorboards so they don't squeak," I say, writing everything we'll need to do down on a small notepad.

I do this for every room in the house and about an hour later my notepad has nearly ran out of pages. "See, that wasn't hard, was it?" Annabeth teases and nudges me with her shoulder. I roll my eyes.

"I'm allowed to be stressed, Annie."

"I'm pregnant and you have more mood swings than I do," she says and I chuckle.

"Why don't you cheer me up?" I ask, smirking.

"And how would I do that?" she asks, smirking right back at me.

I take her hand and pull her arm so her chest presses against mine and our lips are brushing slightly.

"Why don't you just go with your instincts," I suggest and she presses her lips to mine. I back her against the wall and she tangles her fingers in my hair while I abandon her lips but instead trail kisses down her neck.

"Not here," she whispers and I stop and look at her. "It would be weird."

"I understand," I reply and press my lips to hers quickly. "Let's go back to the hotel."

We leave the care home.

When we get back to our hotel room we are greeted with Ethan chasing Ocean around the house. Annabeth and I can't stop the smiles that spread across our faces as we watch Ethan tickle Ocean while she squeals in happiness.

"Stop, Efan," she giggles and Ethan finally stops. Ocean runs over to Annabeth and I when she notices us.

"Mommy, Daddy!" she throws her arms around me first before doing the same to Annabeth.

"It looks like you two had fun," Annabeth says and Ethan grins.

"I don't know how you can put up with her. She has way too much energy," Ethan pants, trying to catch his breath.

"Tell me about it," I reply, stifling a yawn.

"Are you going to be staying here for a while longer or are you leaving for San Francisco soon?" Annabeth asks.

"I'm going to leave tomorrow," he replies. "My boss wants me back in work. I'm going to go back to my room. I need to pack and then have a nap. After chasing Ocean I feel like I'm going to drop."

I laugh. "Lucky you. I have to wait until night to sleep," I say.

He leaves soon after and Annabeth suggests we all go out to eat. "Where would you like to go?" Annabeth asks Ocean as we put our coats on and step out of the door.

"Donald's!" Ocean squeals and I can't help but grin.

"McDonald's it is," I say and take her hand while Annabeth slides her hand into my free one.

It doesn't take long to get there, as the fast food place is only a few blocks away from the hotel. I lead Ocean to a free table while Annabeth orders our meal. "Daddy?" Ocean says and I can tell by her tone that she wants to ask me something.

"Yes, honey?" I reply.

"Why that woman look at you?" she asks.

I frown. "What woman?"

"Her," Ocean replies and points to someone behind my head.

I turn in my seat and my eyes widen when I recognise the woman. She has spiky black hair and wide electric blue eyes. Thalia. I look to the guy next to her and if possible my eyes widen even more. Nico.

I force my mouth not to drop open when I notice the tiny baby wrapped in a pink blanket in Nico's arms. He hasn't noticed me but Thalia definitely has and is already walking over.

I stand up as she walks forward and the murderous look on her face makes me tense. Something tells me this isn't going to be good. The closer she comes the more I prepare myself for the pain I will receive from the slap or punch that I'm sure I'll receive.

Maybe that's why I flinch and squeeze my eyes shut just before she throws her arms around me in a death-grip. I'm so surprised that Thalia Grace is hugging me that I don't hug back for a minute.

"Is it really you?" she whispers, pulling away. There are tears in her eyes.

I nod, speechless. "Percy?" I step to the side and watch as Nico walks over. "Oh my gods."

"Nico," I finally speak up.

"Daddy, who these people?" Ocean asks.

"There friends of mommy and I," I reply, never taking my eyes off Nico and Thalia. I can't believe how different but at the same time familiar they look.

"Y-you have a little girl?" Thalia stutters.

I nod again. "You do, too."

"Where have you been, man? Everyone was worried and Chiron…" Nico trails off and I look away.

"We know about Chiron," I mutter loud enough for them to hear. "We didn't mean for anything like that to happen. We just wanted to be together. I'm sorry."

"Where's Annabeth?" Thalia asks.

"My mommy is getting us food," Ocean replies for me. I smile at her.

"Ocean, this is Nico and Thalia. Guys this is my three year old, Ocean," I say.

Ocean stands up and walks over to them and holds out a hand to Thalia. They shake hands while Thalia looks at her in awe. Motherhood has definitely softened my old friend. Ocean shakes Nico's hand too before walking back over to me and hugging my leg. She seems way older than her age sometimes.

"This is Bianca," Nico says, looking down at the baby.

"She's beautiful," I reply.

"Oh my god," the familiar voice makes us all turn in the direction of where Annabeth is standing. Tears instantly fill her eyes when she realises who the two are and she drops our food onto the table before flinging her arms around Thalia. "I can't believe it's you!"

"I thought you were meant to be the wise one," I hear Thalia say. "You left. You two are idiots."

"We know. But we thought it was best," Annabeth says before pulling away. "Nico!"

"Hey, Annabeth," Nico greets, smiling softly.

I have to say that I'm surprised out how well our old friends are reacting to seeing us after so long. I thought that Thalia would go crazy and I can't help but be happy that she has a baby that has obviously softened her up.

"You have a baby. We missed so much," Annabeth says. I suddenly feel guilty for leaving ten years ago even though both Annabeth and I have already said that we don't regret leaving. If we hadn't left then who knows where we'd be now?

"We can catch up, I guess. Silena has organised a party for the end of the week. Everyone from the care home is going. It's like a reunion we do every year to catch up. You guys should come. Everyone would love to see you," Thalia says.

"They'll bite our heads off," I say.

Thals grins. "Maybe but you deserve it after the hell you put us through."

I know that we do owe everyone. I look at Annabeth. She looks at me. We both nod.

"Are kids aloud?" Annabeth asks, looking at Ocean and ruffling our daughter's hair.

"Yeah. So you'll come?" Nico asks.

"Sure," I reply.

I don't know whether to be excited or nervous. All I can do is prepare myself.

This if going to be one hell of a stressful week…

Sorry about any spelling/grammar mistakes.

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