AN: Eek! Over 20 reviews on the first chapter! Thank you so much! I decided to do this chapter in Annabeth's POV so you know a little about her life.
I want to warn people that this story is… different. I don't really want to ruin the plot by telling you what's going to happen and I know what happens in the story most of you probably won't like in real life.
I think what happens in real life around the subject that I can't name is horrible. You can ruin lots of lives by doing it and I'm 100% against it and I know if any guy did it to me then I'd never give them a second chance.
Anyone know what I'm talking about? I just wanted to let you all know that this story is based on Percy and Annabeth together. So… how do I explain while not telling you the whole plot? Argh, annoying! I'm just going to stop trying to explain. You'll find out in a few chapters anyway.
If you haven't already please go check out my other stories. Enjoy the chapter…
Chapter Two
Annabeth
"Mommy!" the familiar voices of my twin sons yell, jumping up and down on my bed. "Wake up, Mommy!"
I groan and sit up, squinting my gray orbs so I can see my nine year olds through my sleepy eyes. "It's a Saturday, boys," I complain. "In the mornings for school you never want to get up and when the weekend comes around you're always jumping on my bed at seven o'clock in the morning!"
"Mommy, we want to have ice cream!" Connor pleads.
"First; you're meant to have breakfast for breakfast, not ice cream. And second; where's your dad?" I ask, sitting up as the boys carry on jumping on my king-sized bed.
"He said he had to go to work today and that he'll take us out tomorrow instead," Travis replies. I frown.
Luke promised the boys that he'd take them out. I can't believe I actually thought he was going to do it and now he's gone and disappointed them yet again. He'll do the same thing to them tomorrow. He's so caught up in his job that it's like we don't exist in his world now. I can't remember the last time we all went out as a family.
"Can we have ice cream later?" Connor asks, bringing me out of my thoughts about my husband.
"Yeah, sure," I reply and untangle myself from my blanket. "What do you want for breakfast?"
"Pancakes!" the twin's squeal at the same time. It's weird how they do that. It's weirder when they can feel how the other is feeling.
"Okay, go get dressed and brush your teeth and they'll be done by the time you're both downstairs," I say. They run off without another word and I squeeze my eyes shut, really wanting to go back to sleep but knowing I can't.
I force myself to stand up and walk downstairs, not being bothered to change out of my pyjamas. I head to the kitchen and get the ingredients together for the pancakes. I mix the ingredients together until it's a smooth liquid without any lumps.
I then pour the mix into a pan and make a cup of coffee while I wait for it to cook. While I'm sipping my hot drink my fifteen-year-old daughter, Jessica, walks into the room. I tense instantly. What way is she going to act towards me today?
"Good morning," I say. She jumps, not realising I was in the room.
"Hi," is all she says, glancing at me quickly before going to the fridge and getting juice.
"You want pancakes?" I ask, getting up and flipping the pancake in the pan.
"I'm on a diet." I stare at her in disbelief. A diet? The girl is already as thin as a twig. I know not to question her though; it will only make things between us worse.
I cook in silence while she grabs an apple and sits at the table. "I'm going out today," she informs me. I hate that she doesn't ask if she can go out, she just assumes that I'll let her.
"Who with?" I ask. Her behaviour is getting worse and I want to know whom she's getting her bad attitude and behaviour from. I mean, we've never had a brilliant relationship but it's always between okay between us.
"People," she replies sarcastically. See what I mean? She never used to talk like this. I drop the subject and drop another pancake onto the growing pile.
"Boys!" I yell. "Pancakes are done!" I can hear the boys cheer before they stomp down the stairs and into the kitchen.
I put the plate in the middle of the table and they dig in. I grab a pancake and eat it quickly before washing the pan and other items I had used to make the pancakes. "Where's dad?" Jess speaks up.
I look over my shoulder and say, "Work."
She frowns and looks away. I know she hates it as much as I do.
It has been five years since Luke got offered the job as a lawyer. Now all he does is work, work, work. He comes home late at night when everyone is in bed and leaves for work again in the morning before the kids can see him.
Sometimes, if he finishes his work early, he comes home. But even then he complains that he's too tired to spend time with any of us and goes to sleep.
It's been over six months since we had physical connection in the bedroom and even then we didn't make love. It was just sex. I didn't feel anything. I didn't get the feeling I used to when he was touching me.
I love him but I'm not in love with him anymore. He is too caught up in work to notice that. Besides, the first and only time I asked for a divorce was three years ago and he'd said that we can't separate because he'd look bad and that it would affect his business.
It was then that he took a break from work and we'd went on holiday, just us two, while my best friend, Thalia, looked after the kids. I thought he'd change after that. And he did for a few months before he went back to his previous ways. It's been like that ever since.
After breakfast I have a shower and then change into black jeans, a white shirt and black sandals. At thirty-three years old my friends have told me that I look ten years younger. Pfft, I don't believe that.
I dry my curly blonde hair with the hair-dryer and throw it into a ponytail. While my curls used to be wild and hard to tame they're now loose and unwind. I wish they'd been like that when I was a kid.
The twins, like both Luke and I, have blonde hair but fortunately for them, it is straight like their dads. Their eyes are a silvery gray like mine and hold a mischievous twinkle to them at all times. They're just like their dad when he was a kid, always playing pranks and being the class clown.
Jessica has piercing blue eyes and once had her fathers' straight blonde hair also until she decided to dye it a blood red colour without any of our permission about seven months ago, around the time when she started to get into trouble and talk back at me.
A few hours later I tell the boys to get their shoes and jackets on so we can go get ice cream. They squeal in excitement while I smile at how excited they get over an ice cream. Sometimes I think they're younger than nine years old when they act childish.
Once they're ready and I have my purse we get into the car. "Seat belts," I say, fastening my own safety belt. I turn in my seat and make sure they're buckled up before driving off.
"Mommy?" Connor asks from the back. I love that even if he and Travis are in third grade that they still call me mommy.
"Yes, Connor?" I reply.
"I'm Travis," he says and I frown. Even I, their own mother, can't tell the difference between the two. Sometimes they switch places and pretend to be each other.
"Sorry, Travis. What is it, sweetie?" I ask.
"Why don't we see daddy any more?" he asks quietly. The sadness in his voice feels like a stab in my heart and I feel anger rise in my chest at the thought of Luke. I'm going to give him a piece of my mind when he gets home tonight.
"He's just busy at work. Why? Don't you like spending time with me?" I try to tease.
"Yeah but we never see him. It's like…" he trails off.
"Like what?" I press.
"Like he doesn't love us anymore," Connor finishes for his brother.
I pull over outside 'Ice Cream Heaven' just as he says that. I turn the engine of the car off and turn in my seat.
"Don't you ever think that, okay? Your daddy loves you very, very much. You understand?" I say. They nod sadly before realising we've arrived at the ice cream store.
They look at each other, then me and then jump out of the car and race inside, grinning once again in excitement. I follow them after locking the car and walk to the counter. I order three ice creams, one for each of us and tell the boys to look for a seat for us all to sit at.
Once I pay for the ice creams I walk to the table the twins had sat at and slide onto the seat. I hand them their ice creams and they dig in after thanking me. I smile slightly and eat my own ice cream, watching as the boys get the melting food all over their mouths.
I let my eyes scan over the medium-sized store and I can't help thinking that if I'd built this store then it would be much bigger. I've wanted to be an architect ever since I was a kid. Luke and I married when we were twenty-two years old after meeting in university.
I had gone on to be an architect and at twenty-four I fell pregnant with the twins. It was then that I decided to quit my job and be a stay at home mom. Luke and I were twenty-eight when he got offered that job as a lawyer. He took the offer up. As the boys and Jess have grown older I've wanted to get back into architecture all over again.
I come out of my thoughts when I realise there is a small little girl that I guess to be a little younger than the twins, sitting opposite me and next to the twins. "Hey, you two are from my school," she says to the boys, playing with the ends of her red hair.
"I've never seen you before," Connor says in confusion.
"Everyone knows you two. You're the twin pranksters," she giggles. I feel a smile tug at my lips.
"Where's your parents, sweetie?" I ask, curiously.
"My daddy's getting me ice cream. He told me to find a seat. Can we sit here with you, please?" she begs. How can I resist a face like that?
"Sure," I smile.
"My dad came all the way from New York to see me. I live with my mommy here. They divorced a few years ago but I don't mind that much because they don't argue any more. Do you live with your daddy?" she asks the boys. My heart aches at the thought of this little girl having to listen to her parents argue and then go through a divorce.
"Yeah but he's always working," Travis says sadly.
The girl looks around the store and her eyes light up when they fall on something behind me. "That's my daddy!" she squeals and points to a man behind me. The boys look in the direction she's pointing and I turn around and look at the man walking towards us.
Our eyes meet as he reaches the table. My heart beats faster and faster. I feel like a teenager all over again when a cute guy comes over to sit with me. I bite my lip. Why am I thinking these things? Why am I feeling like this?
This feeling, I have to admit, I missed. I haven't felt like this in years. The feelings only get stronger as the man opens his mouth and says, "I'm Percy…"
AN: No cliffie but this chapter seemed to drag. Review?