AN: This is more of a filler chapter. And it isn't that good, it's actually quite bad. I apologise if this chapter is really unbearable. Sorry about any spelling mistakes. I wanted to get this up as soon as I can and I've probably missed some errors.

A Week Later

Annabeth

This last week I have barely left the kids' side. Every opportunity I've had to be with them I take with welcome arms. I make them breakfast in the mornings before school and make sure we eat at the table together so we can talk about our plans for the day.

I take them to school myself, instead of letting them walk together. While they're in school I clean around the house to pass time and think of things we can all do in the evening. I just want to make up for the time I took up moping around and worrying about not getting custody.

That very night I found out I had custody, Percy insisted he take the kids and I out to dinner with Lilly and my lawyer, Piper McLean. The day after I stayed in with the kids and we watched a movie together with popcorn and chocolate treats. Another day, I took them to the local swimming pool where there are water slides and blown-up toys to float on. I took them to the cinema, out shopping for new clothes and toys, to a theme park…

And now I can't think of anywhere fun to take them.

It's Thursday and because Luke will be taking care of them tomorrow evening after school I want to make this last night as fun as the others have been. While the kids are in school I sit on the couch in the living room and think long and hard about what we can do.

The loud ringing of my phone brings me out of my thoughts and I dig through my pocket for the device before pressing it to my ear.

"Hello?" I answer.

"Hey, Annabeth. It's Percy," he replies.

"Oh, hey. What's up?" I ask, my heart speeding up a little at the sound of his voice. I sound like an innocent teenager again.

"I just wanted to check in, we haven't spoke for a few days," he explains.

"I know. I said I would call you but I've been so busy. I've been doing fun things with the kids all week and now I'm stuck on what I can do with them tonight," I reply, feeling a little guilty for not calling him.

"It's fine. I actually have Lilly tonight and I was planning on taking her ice-skating. She's wanted to go for ages. You can come if you want," Percy suggests.

"I can't intrude. You and Lilly never have time alone anymore. I always feel like I'm taking up all of your time," I sigh.

"Lilly loves it when we all go out together and she's spent a few days alone with me already this week. She loves you, Annabeth. And she thinks the boys are the best. Come on, just come with us," he almost begs.

"Are you sure we won't be intruding?" I ask, just to make sure.

"I'm positive. We love spending time with you," Percy insists.

"Okay, if you're sure. I'll meet you at the ice rink at… what time?" I ask.

"5pm," Percy says. "That okay?"

"Yeah. That's great. Thank you so much. I'll see you later," I reply.

"Your welcome. Bye," he says and hangs up.

I slouch against the couch and close my eyes. My evening is planned and now I have nothing to do. Remembering the newspaper I bought this morning, I go into the kitchen to find it and open it up to the job advertisement page. I circle any possibilities and then fold the paper back up before climbing the stairs to have a shower.

I pick the kids up from school a few hours later and can't help but realise how much I love the sound of all three children talking at once when they all jump into the car. "I have something planned for us tonight," I announce as we drive home.

"What is it?" Connor asks, excitement in his voice.

"We are going ice-skating with Percy and Lilly," I reply and grin as the boys cheer. I turn to Jess, sitting beside me in the passenger seat. "Is that okay?"

She shrugs and looks down with a slight blush on her face. "I… um… a boy in my History class asked me out today and I really want to go out with him."

"Is he a good boy or is he part of that gang-" I start but Jess cuts me off.

"I don't hang around with them any more. Liam is a nice boy, I promise."

"Well, of course you can go out on your date. Where's he taking you?" I ask, curiously.

"He said it was a surprise," she says, a hint of nervousness in her tone.

I pull into the driveway and turn the car engine off. The boys hop out of the car and race towards the house while I turn in my seat to face Jess.

"Are you sure he's a good boy? A surprise sounds a bit suspicious," I question.

"I'm sure of it, mom. I've known him since I moved here. My History teacher assigned us partners and he is mine for a project we're doing about the Civil War. He actually stopped me from getting detention a few times by covering me. He is really nice," Jess insists.

I smile at the glimmer in her eyes and lean over to kiss her forehead before we jump out of the car and head into the house.

I make the twins change out of their school uniform and into something warm and appropriate for ice-skating. I cook up a snack for them and call Jess down to eat a while later. She comes downstairs in red skinny jeans, a black and white striped t-shirt with a black blazer over the top and black converse on her feet. Her hair is tied back in a braid and I notice she has applied a little make-up to her face.

"You look beautiful," I say truthfully, as she stands nervously playing with her hands.

"Are you sure? I didn't want to be too dressy and look desperate. I want to look smart and casual but fun and colourful aswell," she replies, bringing a hand up to one of the diamonds in her ears and turning it in a nervous habit.

"You look perfect. He is going to kiss the ground you walk on," I tease. "Now, come eat before he comes knocking."

We talk as we eat and I tell Jess to be home by 10pm. She agrees without trying to put up a fight and also agrees to text me every few hours so I know she's okay. I clean up once everyone finishes their snack and look at the clock on the wall in the kitchen to see its 4.45pm.

"Let's go, boys," I call as I button my coat up and check my appearance in the mirror. I apply a little lip-gloss to my lips and tie my hair back in a ponytail before I open the front door to wait in the car for the twins. I bump into a handsome young boy raising a hand to knock on the door.

"I'm sorry, miss," he apologises, holding my arm to stop me from falling to the ground.

"It's okay. You must be Liam?" I guess.

"That's me. You must be Jess's mom. She brags about you all the time," he says, holding a hand out for me to shake.

"Is that so?" I ask, obviously surprised, as I shake his hand. He nods with a kind smile and I smile back at him before stepping back inside the house.

"Jess! Your date has arrived!"

I watch as Jess jogs downstairs and grabs her bag from the hallway. She swings it onto her shoulder before coming up to me.

"I'll see you later," she says before she steps outside and nearly drags Liam away.

"Bye!" I call out after them, just to embarrass Jess a little more. "You better look after my daughter, mister!"

"Who was that?" Travis asks, coming outside and heading towards the car.

"A friend of your sisters," I reply.

"Ooh! Jess has a boyfriend!" Connor gasps, racing outside after his brother. I roll my eyes and lock the house up before climbing into the car and starting towards the ice-rink that's not ten minutes away.

We arrive a few minutes after five and we walk inside to find Percy and Lilly sitting on a bench, waiting for us. They jump up when they see us arrive and start towards us. "Hi!" Lilly squeals, skipping closer to us. I wrap an arm around her and greet her before I go to greet her father.

"Hey," I say.

"Hi. Where's Jess?" Percy asks.

"On a date," I smile.

"Well, that's a pleasant surprise. Tell her if she ever needs any guys to get beat up she knows whom to come to," he says and points to himself. I laugh and shake my head at his protectiveness over my daughter. The more time I spend with him the more I love being around him.

We talk for a little while before we go to the counter and get our ice-skates. I help the boys tie theirs up while Percy does the same for Lilly. I put my own skates on and then take each of the boys' hands as we head towards the ice rink. I hear Lilly and Percy following behind us.

The boys' cheer once our feet hit the ice but I lead them over to the side so they can get used to the feel of the slippery surface.

"Hold onto the sides and drag yourself along until you're sure you can handle skating without holding onto the side. If you fall, lift your hands off the ice…" I trail off, deciding not to add the warning about someone running over their fingers with their skates.

I don't want to scare them.

I let go of the twins' hands and watch them carefully move along the side of the rink. I smile at their delighted faces and start gliding along the ice without holding onto the sides. It's been a long time since I've skated on ice, over ten years.

Percy glides past me and looks back at me over his shoulder with a cocky grin on his face. I narrow my eyes at him and speed up, closing the gap between us. He stretches his legs out wide in front of him so he moves further away at a quick speed.

"Hey!" I call. "That's not fair! You have longer legs!"

"Jealous, shortie?" He teases and sticks his tongue out at me. I roll my eyes at him and glance over to check to see if the kids are okay. I grin at the sight of Lilly in-between Travis and Connor, holding each of their hands as they slide along the ice.

I race after Percy, moving as quick as my short legs will let me.

As I come closer to Percy he zigzags between the strangers also skating on the ice. I follow his path between the other people, being careful not to bump into anyone. I skate around a large crowd of people and find that Percy has disappeared from my sight. I frown and look around a little while continuing to skate forward.

I go past the kids without stopping, not wanting to disturb their happy time, and continue looking for Percy.

"Sneaky little-" I start to mutter before someone collides into the back of me. I fall forward, my legs getting tangled up in the long legs behind me. I land on the cold ice and a heavy weight lands on top of me.

"Ooft," I grunt and twist my upper body to see Percy grinning down at me.

"What were you saying?" he says in a singsong voice.

"Asshole," I finish. "You want to get off me?"

"Hmm," he says, his thumb and pointer finger touching his chin as he pretends to think. "Nope."

Three different loud, high-pitched laughs fill our ears and we look up to see the twins and Lilly pointing at us and laughing. "You fell over!" Lilly chuckles.

"We're better skaters than you!" Travis squeaks, face red in excitement.

Percy and I start laughing aswell and he manages to get to his feet before he holds a hand out to help me up. He pulls me to my feet and I notice how close our faces are. We both stop laughing. I swallow hard and Percy squeezes my hand before slowly letting his grip loosen. I try to ignore that I want my hand back in his as soon as he let's go.

Hours later and the boys are asleep in bed and I am watching TV in the living room, waiting for Jess to return home. It's 10pm in five minutes and I wonder if Jess is going to be home on time or be late like she used to be. The hot chocolate in my hands warm my fingers as the fire rages in the fireplace.

It's nice to feel this cozy and relaxed, though I know a little part of me is worried that Jess won't be home for another hour or two. I hope to god she has finally changed her rebel ways and maybe this will prove how she will behave from now on.

I'm staring at the flames when I hear a key turn in the lock and the door squeak open. Jess closes the door and takes her coat off and hangs it on a peg in the hallway before she comes into the room. She sits down beside me and I notice how pink her cheeks are.

I smile.

"How was your date?" I ask.

"Great," she replies. "How was yours?"

"It wasn't a date. I had the kids with me," I say.

"You can still call it a date," she says.

I just shrug. "Did you have fun? Where did he take you? I want to know everything!"

She grins at me. "Jeez, you're like the girls at school!"

"I'm just curious!"

"He took me to a concert. We had front seat tickets and the band was awesome. They aren't very famous but they were amazing and Liam wouldn't let my pay for any of the food we got afterwards. He was really sweet," she admits.

"That sounds awesome. Did he kiss you?" I can't help but ask.

"No!" she squeaks, not meeting my eyes.

"Really?" I press.

"Well, not on the lips. He kissed my cheek before I came in. But that's it. Finished questioning me now?" she sighs.

"Until I can think of anything else to ask you… oh, I have something to say. Liam said that you brag about me all the time."

"So?" Jess shrugs.

"Is it true?" I ask.

"Maybe."

"Maybe?" I question.

"Yes. I said a few things about you. But I didn't brag. That would be lame. No one brags about their mom. It's weird," Jess replies.

"Ok. I was just wondering. You know, just to see if Liam was sweet-talking me into thinking he's a good guy."

"He is a good guy," Jess insists.

"Okay, I believe you. Now, bed time. You have school tomorrow," I order. Jess stands up and heads out of the room. "I love you!" I call out after her.

"I love you, too," she says, looking over her shoulder at me, before running up the stairs.