(Christmas) Percabeth 26 –because I'm sure it's confusing at this point –
I hope you guys enjoy it! its that time of the year again, crazy!
The contractions hit her well into the afternoon, in her office, while she was going through some blueprints.
She had contractions before, once every few days, they lasted around thirty seconds and they were absolutely painless. She got used to those.
This was different, this hurt.
Her hand went to the phone, he'd made her swear, literally, on the River Styx if anything ever happened…but she let go of the device. If this was nothing –and it probably was –she shouldn't be worrying him, Percy worried too easily, he wouldn't let it go.
She'd better wait.
"Okay," she muttered a little freaked out when the contraction persisted.
She rested her hand on the lower section of her bump where the contraction was hitting. Her belly was really hard and pain shot from her stomach up and down her body.
Ouch. This really hurt.
Immediately she set her watch to time it and leaned back on her chair.
Annabeth focused on breathing in and out slowly to calm down. This was nothing, it had to be nothing. If it was just one, there was nothing to worry about.
There, done. She sighed and was about to continue with her work when less than four minutes later the next contraction hit her.
After all the reading she was sure that this wasn't normal for a 25 week pregnancy. It was normal after 37 weeks, but it was just too soon, even then it should only be one every few hours.
This couldn't be labor, her baby was small, the lungs weren't fully developed yet, and she wasn't even upside down!
While she scolded herself and pressed her lips to avoid yelping, she went over the knowledge she had on contractions. She settled for Braxton Hicks. She'd read about them in one of the many pregnancy related books she bought when the first test(s) came back positive.
In the blank moment she couldn't remember why they happened or how to stop them so she looked it up on the internet quickly.
She squeezed the mouse and let out a little gasp when the third one came.
'You shouldn't have these contractions less than 10 minutes apart, if so call your doctor or midwife'
And that was three for her in less than what, 7 minutes or something?
Her assistant came in with a few folders and when she saw her face she got concern immediately.
"Annabeth!" she set the files down on her desk "Are you alright? Is it the baby?"
"Lizzie! Contractions," she managed "They hurt"
In thirty second her assistant got her in the elevator and down to her car with one colleague that was there to support Annabeth's weight, although she insisted she didn't need anyone, she could walk by herself. Apparently her shy, sweet assistant was having none of that; she yelled orders to the others like a pro and even scolded Annabeth when she told her she wanted to wait it out.
She reassured them she was fine. That was kind of a lie, of course, she was trying to act tough but it really did hurt.
Lizzie drove while she talked with Percy on the phone.
She tried to sound like everything was cool but as soon as she said the word contraction and pain in the same sentence he completely lost it. Of course he did. She tried to calm him down but it was no use.
She could hear the racket on the other end, she didn't know what he had knocked down but there were people asking him what the hell was wrong with him. She told him to calm down and meet her at their hospital and then hung up because she could feel another contraction coming, summing them up to five, and she didn't want him to hear a little yelp.
About thirty minutes later she was with a doctor, not her usual doctor, but she knew the guy from previous appointments.
Percy was there with her, holding her hand and kissing her head and murmuring soothing words but they were mostly a way of calming himself down. His eyebrows were scrunched up in worry.
She asked him if he got to the hospital okay, because really he could have killed a few people on the way and he wouldn't have cared. Thankfully. somebody drove him.
"So, Annabeth Jackson-Chase..." The doctor said looking through her medical file really quickly "Are you familiar with the Braxton Hicks?" she nodded and Percy shook his head "so to be all in the same page...they are basically fake contractions. Your baby is not coming today, but if they persist they are going to lead to an early birth or something worse...but not to worry–"
"We do worry" Percy said a little too harsh, she looked at her husband and patted his hand. Percy returned her a look as if to say 'I'm calm, I'm calm'
"Yes, I know. That's not what I meant Mr. Jackson. I meant they can be stopped." Percy nodded and he addressed Annabeth "They are mostly due to stress or certain...situations"
He hesitated before continuing and then looked over at Percy standing by the bed "Why don't you wait outside?"
"What?!"
"I'm going to ask the patient a few questions" He replied calmly.
"What questions are you going to ask her that I can't hear?" Percy asked looking puzzled and annoyed. Percy looked at Annabeth with an eyebrow raised
"It's okay, he's my husband" she said to the doctor.
"Still, it'd be better if–some patients feel better and confide when there's no family in the room"
"Confide?" Percy asked, Annabeth started shaking her head and opened her mouth to reply but he got it alright "Do you think this is something to do with me? Stressful situations…meaning home violence or something?" He took a step closer; the doctor didn't say anything and addressed Annabeth again.
"I assure you, there's no need for that" Annabeth said firmly "Please, continue"
The doctor pressed his lips "Okay, as I said, they are due to stress." Annabeth nodded "you have to stop any hectic activities. Do you exercise regularly? How is work?"
"I'm an architect." She replied "It doesn't require a lot of movement. I don't even visit the buildings I'm working on myself anymore. I stopped doing it for now; it takes a lot of time"
"And stressful somehow?"
"Well, I guess I'm a perfectionist so I might stress over the details a little" She said with pride, the doctor gave her a smile. Annabeth felt a puff of air over her hair, Percy was angry. The idiot probably thought the doctor was hitting on her.
"And exercise?"
"I work out"
I fight monsters, she said in her mind.
"Often?"
"A few days a week," she shrugged. "Nothing too…well, normal I guess"
Depends on how many monsters attack me, she thought. Might be two days on a good week. A very good week.
"You need to cut back on that. You're in pretty good shape and at a good weight for 25 weeks, it seems for the last doctor appointment where they weighed you and what you gained is only baby, no fat excess. A very good shape."
And she was glad to hear that again, she wanted to eat all the time and not nutritious food either! She was following a very balanced diet but it was really hard not to get tempted. Besides, Percy spoiled her a lot and was a very good cook.
Of course what the doctor said was purely medical but when Percy squeezed her hand she couldn't help a little smile. Her dork husband would consider that as flirting.
"I recommend walking or pregnancy exercises. Breathing exercises help a lot, too. And you are a little dehydrated; you need to drink more water. Reduce coffee if you drink it, or go with decaf"
"Okay" she nodded
"Now...any violence?" Annabeth could see a small flicked of his eyes towards Percy. "Heavy arguments? Um, deceased?"
She didn't want him to think anything like that towards Percy, but she got that lots of women could be in an abusing situation with their partner and wouldn't speak up. She understood where he was coming from before, of course women would speak up only if alone.
"No, nothing of that sort of thing" she shook her head firmly. She squeezed Percy hand a little. The doctor only nodded.
"Have you experience any cramping after sex?"
"Uh, not really" she replied and couldn't help but blush.
"Well, don't worry if that happens. Its normal, they might be uncomfortable but they don't hurt."
"Okay"
The doctor nodded again and started completing a form for her regular doctor.
"What should I do not to get them again?" She questioned still worried.
The doctor looked up at her and smiled reassuringly "I was getting there. First I'd suggest taking a few days from work, or work from home. Relax and have lots of water and you should take baths if you get an occasional contraction. If you have one you should immediately change position, walk if you were sitting down and the other way round. Relax, breath, give yourself a rest. This might happen again if you keep up with a hectic routine and we don't want it happening again"
"Anything else?" Percy asked and she could hear the relief in his voice.
"No, that's all."
"My baby is safe then?" Annabeth asked and hugged her belly.
"Yes, perfectly fine Annabeth. I know you had an ultrasound scheduled for next week but we might as well get it over with so you don't have to come and can truly rest at home."
The doctor went away.
"Ha. It had to be Doctor Love the one to take us today right? I want to punch him and I'm not a violent person even though he thinks I am."
Annabeth laughed "He's just a doctor, he's doing his job."
"If his job is to pick up other people's wives! Pregnant wives! Ooooh you're in a very good shape" he imitated his voice. "Like hell, I know you are. You're sexy and mine."
She laughed again and kissed his hand, "You're an idiot. Did you know that?"
He kissed her forehead.
"You're so staying at home for the rest of this pregnancy." Percy told her.
She smiled and looked at him, she could see in his eyes how some of the worry had faded "Shut up, that's not what he said at all."
"You've been fighting too many monsters these past weeks and if that didn't make me worry like crazy, now I have this to think about as well."
"I have to slow down, that's all" He kissed her temple "I'll take a week off"
He nodded "And after that I'm going to ask to leave early to pick you up from work, you can't go on like this."
"I don't know if that's necessary."
"It's just an hour, I don't think the boss will say no…If I don't do it I think I'm gonna die of worry."
She smiled and grabbed his hand other hand in hers, "Percy…"
"I'm serious; you know what it's like to be sitting there waiting for you to call from home to tell me you've arrived in one piece? It's horrible! Annabeth…" He sighed and the lines in his forehead deepened, "This is our baby we are talking about, I'm dead scared. You're a good fighter I know that, I'm not questioning it, but you're pregnant now. Any day it could be a bad day for you, not a quick reflex or too many at once or—" he shuddered
"Stop, stop. I know" She said because his words brought a shudder to her too and it was true, she couldn't afford to count on luck every day.
"You have to watch out for the belly" he stroked her tummy just as the doctor came in.
"The technicians are all busy, too many babies this time of the year! But I can do it myself. I've done it before, you don't mind right?"
"No, of course not" Percy replied and Annabeth shook her head still deep in thought. The doctor smiled for the first time to him.
He got the ultrasound equipment ready and Annabeth lifted up her blouse. He put the gel on her bump and started sliding the stick over it.
"You know the sex?" the doctor asked "I don't want to spoil anything"
"They told us it was 85% a girl" Annabeth replied and Percy laughed. "Apparently the baby is always too shy to show properly, crossed legs or behind the placenta"
"We're dying to know if the last guy was correct" Percy said beaming.
"Well, here you have a 100% confirmation that your baby is a girl" the doctor commented pointing at the monitor.
Annabeth smiled, it was really a girl! Percy was grinning widely too. He loved the idea of a girl; he thought the baby was a girl from the very first moment.
Annabeth shot a look at her husband that was tilting his head sideways trying to understand what the doctor was pointing.
"There, see? No penis, female parts"
"Oh, I get it now" Percy replied
"She's moving around a lot." The doctor commented.
"Yeah" Was all Annabeth could say, because she was feeling it. "She's been getting a lot of hiccups, lately"
"That's perfectly normal. Mmm, I'm a little rusty at ultrasounds but I guess they fill you in with baby facts…Your baby is now the size of an acorn squash and she's developing strongly: hearing, sight, smell and touch. She can hear us pretty clearly already I'd say, right little one?"
The doctor moved the stick a little further to the right trying to get her profile. Annabeth still couldn't get over the sight of her baby girl on the screen…her little perfect profile and hand. She was so in love with her baby daughter.
Percy squeezed her hand so she knew he was thinking the same thing. Annabeth could finally breath again, her baby was okay.
"Okay. That's it for today." He printed the baby's ultrasound and gave it to Percy who stared at it with loving eyes.
"Thank you" Annabeth said with relief. She looked at Percy who was still smiling at the baby picture. He said thank you as well.
"My guess is that you won't get them again if you rest for a few days. Enjoy the festivities!" The doctor told her right before he walked out.
They took a cab back to their apartment, the Christmas lights trickling away all over the place. Annabeth was so absorbed in the pretty decorations and the bright snow in the trees in central park…
For all the things going on she didn't even realize how far into December they were. Christmas was only three weeks away!
"You. Warm bath. Now." he ordered her as soon as they got home.
She couldn't help a little smile, "So bossy."
"You're not lifting a finger for a week or until I decide you can."
"Are you going back to work?"
"I think I deserve the day off too," he dismissed it and she laughed. "I'm gonna oversee the first day of your resting, besides its Friday. Good day to give us a freak out little one!" he poked the top of her belly
They put away their coats and bags and took off their shoes.
"Now...since you're resting," she raised an eyebrow and he hoisted her up bridal style. She shrieked
"Percy! Put me down!"
"You're resting. I carry you" He started walking towards their bathroom.
"The doctor didn't say I couldn't walk. Actually he said I should walk!"
He set her down in the toilet and brushed the back of his hand over his forehead as if to clean the sweat "Gods, you're so heavy."
"Shut up" and he smiled "you heard the doctor I'm all baby. The best pregnant shape you'll see"
He laughed and turned on the faucet, checking the temperature of the water. When he turned around Annabeth was half naked already and he smirked and started undressing as well.
"Oh?" She raised an eyebrow "I thought this was my bath."
"Let me correct myself. We're taking a bath. You know how stressful that was? I almost died."
"That's funny since I was the one with the painful contractions" His forehead creased at that.
Percy climbed in the tub first and lay down and Annabeth went after him. They shifted a little until they were comfortable in their small tub.
Annabeth was half on top of him sideways, her pregnant belly over his stomach. Percy circled her with his arms, his hands resting over her bump.
She relaxed and nuzzled his neck with her nose, laying a few kisses below his ear.
"Okay?" she asked
"I should ask you that"
"I'm fine"
"I'm fine as long as you two are"
"We're fine"
"You're not even a seven month old baby in the freaking womb and you've already managed to give me a heart attack!" He caressed Annabeth's bump up and down. Annabeth placed her hands over his; she was smiling against his neck.
She pressed their hands down on her belly. Annabeth laughed when she felt an urgent nudge "She's answering back"
"Yeah, I feel that." He was grinning, he loved whenever he caught the baby moving "You're grounded, young lady, you hear me?"
"She's grounded until the 40th week. Then she can come out."
They stayed quiet for a good bit, enjoying the warm water and each other's embrace, feeling their baby daughter move around.
"We should figure out the thing about getting you from work"
"Okay" She replied because she knew fighting wasn't going to get her anywhere, Percy had already made up his mind.
"If I can't do it someday, Piper will. Or Leo, or Jason"
"Percy, gods...there's no need-"
"There's no need to keep our baby safe?" He asked shutting her up "They are our friends. As soon as we tell them they will help, of course they will."
"I know, I just don't want to complicate everybody's life. You–"
"No, I wasn't asking you. I'm doing it. I won't let anything happened to you two" he said and felt the tensing in her shoulders "we won't talk about this anymore, relax"
"Okay, do whatever you want"
He grinned "I was going to anyway"
"Your daughter is kicking away, seems like she is not very happy about mommy being carried around either. We like our independence"
Percy laughed and kissed Annabeth cheek.
"I love you. Both of you" Percy said, his voice clear and loud. He rested his hand where the baby was pressing.
So Annabeth was commanded to rest and Percy was going to do everything it took to make her truly rest.
She was supervising work from her computer, eating healthy (or trying not to temp herself with junk food) and barely tidying up the house.
'Breaks are good' Piper told her while she painted her toe nails one afternoon, both girls lying on the couch doing beauty dept for old times sake.
And she was right. Apart from needing it for the pregnancy, she realized how she needed a break for herself, once every few months, she needed to slow down, relax and take things easy.
Annabeth remembered taking a break a few months before she found out she was pregnant with her girl, and she was sure their baby was conceived in that week she took off.
She was lying on the bed thinking about all this...she had done some pregnancy exercises during the morning and now her feet and back hurt.
The laptop was on beside her but she had already gone through the day's work. She finished an email for Lizzie and sent it, she was sure her assistant was managing the office well after her outbreak the day of the contractions.
She went on the internet to read the news and an ad for a baby website caught her eye and she clicked on it out of curiosity.
She went through the site, there was a forum and a bunch of stuff she already knew and when she was about to close the tab and get on with her work she found the baby names link.
They didn't have a list of names. They've came up with a few but none of them went well with Jackson-Chase, they didn't have a good ring to it, they didn't sound right for their baby.
They thought the name was one of the few things about having a kid that would be easy, wrong! Naming your child was a huge task, this was a name she was freaking carry for the rest of their life, they couldn't randomly name her! It had to have meaning but not too much meaning, the kid should be able to carry the name as their own and make her own meaning out of it. They couldn't name her after someone and remind everyone of that person every time they call her. The name needed to become hers.
Annabeth certainly never asked her dad why he decided to name her Annabeth. It was not a common name and she was usually called Annabelle by strangers (which was infuriating). She knew her name meant favor, grace or the god's gift or promise. Well, every child of Athena was a gift but she sure wasn't any favor or grace to her dad when she arrived in the golden crib. She was more of an inconvenience, he made sure to let her know. But that was all water under the bridge, no need to think about it now.
When Percy found out about her name's meaning he called her Grace sometimes in mockery or to use it in his advantage, trying to be 'romantic', (chessy) telling her she was his grace.
Percy was another thing; Sally named him Perseus after the Perseus (even though his dad was Zeus) just because he was the only Greek hero that had something of a happy ending. But really nobody call him Perseus ever (except for her in certain situations), his real name, the one he made his own was Percy. Every god, every monster, every demigod knew him as the hero Percy Jackson
Annabeth started going through the names, alphabetically. As soon as she reached the D's she was already tired of reading every single one with their meaning. They were so many names!
So she changed the order and arranged them by origin. It felt only right to go to the Greek one's even before the English or American.
Most of the names were something to do with Greek 'mythology' and the last thing she wanted was to name her kid after someone who died a horrible death or a maiden that was raped a hundred times.
For example Helena was a really good name but did they really want to name their kid after a girl that started one of the biggest Greek wars?
She liked Atalanta (or its variation Atlanta) a lot. She knew her story well and she admired her when she was young. Around the time she wanted to join the hunters.
Atlanta/Atalanta was supposed to be a powerful maiden huntress that was raised by a bear after his father left her in the woods because she was born a girl. She became the best huntress and she was really fast and always happy. She had taken an oath of virginity to Artemis and in some stories she was part of the Argonauts with the original Jason and the original Argo.
Her father, sometime after she got old, decided that he wanted to be involved in her life, so he wanted to marry her to a good guy. She didn't want to because of her vow and because the oracle had told her that losing her virginity would have a horrible fate.
So she decided that she'd marry the guy that beat her on a race (clever) unfortunately she was deceived by a guy named Meleager that had asked Aphrodite for help. The guy tossed her some golden apples and she picked them up losing time running so she had to marry him.
Afterwards Aphrodite got mad at Meleager because he never paid her back for the favor so she made him have sex with Atlanta somewhere sacred to Zeus and (of course) the god got angry and turned them into lions. The End!
It wasn't as bad as other Greek stories go. Annabeth liked it a lot but then it didn't sound good with their last name.
She decided to keep a bunch of names both Greek and English and made a list. She could go through them later with Percy.
She went over the questions in the mommy forum. At first she thought they were stupid, but then she realized she was going to be in the same situation in just three months! Not that she didn't know about the things they were asking, some were a bit silly, but still! These were scared new moms. She closed the computer, frustrated; she couldn't read any more, they made her nervous.
She felt overwhelmed suddenly. Sometimes she felt that way, looking at her bump in the mirror or thinking the many things she still had to learn.
She had read a lot of baby books and stuff, but who was she kidding? Reading a book did not prepare you to become a mother. Nothing did.
She was scared to death! She didn't even know if she had it in her...
No, she's got to have it in her.
Yes! She must have it in her because sometimes she got this feeling...a feeling absolutely heart crushing whenever she felt a new kick.
She tended to cover her bump whenever she encountered a monster or when people were talking about horrible things like diseases or even in the slightest wind or discomfort.
Piper was the one to mention she did that, with her usual sweetness she pointed it out squealing that she was the cutest mom ever…and she did tend to wrap her arms around her bump, unconsciously trying to protect her daughter from the (sometimes inexistent) threat. That had to be maternal instinct, it had to be love, and there was no other explanation for it. Her logic couldn't find it.
Of course she knew she loved her daughter, how could she not? But sometimes the feeling of how much took her by surprise, enveloped her all and overwhelmed her too.
She cleaned the tears she didn't realize she was shedding and felt a familiar nudge inside her that made her grin.
"Oh, hi!" she positioned her hand over it, in the lower right section, pressing back. The baby was always quick to respond or remind her she was around. Like saying 'hey that's my spot!'
She fell asleep sometime after that.
Percy arrived and kicked his shoes off. He lie right beside her and moved her hair away from her face. He kissed her face and lips and Annabeth started grumbling and letting out those little sounds she made when she was waking up. Something he noticed years ago when they started sharing a bed and a what he call the 'Annabeth Chase waking up process', which she denied she did, he found it so cute.
Her eyelids fluttered open and he grinned at her. Annabeth rubbed her eyes and gave him a lazy smile too.
"Hey" she mumbled.
"How's my beautiful girl?" Percy let himself fell beside her belly. He pushed her shirt up and rubbed his cheek against her tummy.
"I'm good, thank you for asking" Annabeth replied sarcastically.
He glanced up with a smirk and went back to nuzzled her belly with his nose.
"My little girl" he kissed right below her belly button
"She knows you're here. She just went crazy" Annabeth commented and let her eyelids dropped. She sighed and put her arm around her stomach.
"Oh really?" She could hear Percy's big smile "I've missed you. I've been thinking about you all day, all I wanted was to get back"
Annabeth grabbed his hand and put it near the bottom.
"I felt that alright" he cooed happily after a few quiet moments. "I can't wait for you to be here baby"
"Don't hurry her"
"No, of course not. Take all nine months" He came level with Annabeth's face. "And how's my other girl?"
"Oh, no beautiful for me?"
"Sexy for you"
"It doesn't count now" He rolled his eyes.
"How are you?" He insisted.
She shrugged and sighed "Alright, I guess"
"Less contractions?"
"None painful"
"That's good"
"Yeah"
"Annabeth look at me" She did reluctantly, "have you been crying?"
She considered lying but what was the point when he knew "...maybe"
"Why?"
She forced herself to swallow the new tears and shrugged "Just…really overwhelmed."
Percy's forehead was scrunched up in worry. Of course he was worried, Annabeth was no crier, if she cried it was because the emotions were too strong, painful and overwhelming.
"But why?"
"I don't know, maybe the fact that we're going to have a baby in three freaking months! A human being that's gonna be entirely our own responsibility to...to turn into a person, to help grow up."
He laughed and Annabeth pushed him and he laughed again.
"Stop laughing, I'll punch you!"
"Oh, come on! Don't start that again. You'll do just fine" He kissed her and wrapped his arms around her, bringing her as close to him as possible, the bump between them. "You're good with responsibility, I'm sure the baby is gonna have you fussing over her all day, not a bad thing too, I love to have you fussing over me…like when I'm sick, you're good with that bossing people around and loving them at the same time."
"Maybe a lousy teenager, that's what you still are" she said and he laughed. She rolled her teary eyes "Not a baby, a tiny baby that's so…fragile, I'm serious...I don't know, there's lot of stuff at stake. What if she hates me?"
"Do you really think she's gonna hate us?"
"Me, not you. You're good" She said it like a complaint and he laughed.
"You? Nobody can hate you. You're adorable."
She frowned "I'm not."
"Okay, you're not" He kissed the cute crease between her eyebrows. "And you'll probably be an awful mother."
Her eyes started to water "I know"
"Oh gods, no…Annabeth! I'm just joking." He pulled her close "I really, really think you'll be wonderful at it" He kissed the tip of her nose.
She hugged his neck "I don't want to mess up with our kid."
"We'll learn" he reassured her
"Aren't you nervous or scared?"
"Terrified, but we'll be fine. I'm sure of that. And she's going to absolutely love you because who wouldn't love you?"
The baby's room was far from done. The base paint was a creamy yellow and different other colors were on the papered floor ready for mixing.
They had only a few items in the room, a white dresser on the side, and the crib in the centre, it was a beautiful gift from Leo and it was kinda vintage, made with white iron and rounded.
Annabeth was rocking on a chair in the corner and she yawned.
Tyson's mobile on top of the crib was really doing its thing. Hippocampi turned and went up and down in different heights, some cords held blue seashells and starfish found on the sand. The whole set was really beautiful, Percy and Annabeth loved it, it was probably the first gift they received for their baby.
"You know..." Rachel said as she finished the rough outline of another flying Pegasus. She startled Annabeth, she'd been so quiet while she drew she almost forgot the red headed was there "I saw her."
Annabeth looked at her without understanding, she blinked away the sleep "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention, what did you say?"
"That I saw her!"
"Who?"
Rachel turned, she put the pencil between her teeth and tied her red locks in a messy bun, and then she smiled "Oh dummy, who do you think?"
Rachel raised an eyebrow as if it was obvious. Annabeth saw how she switched her eyes down towards her belly.
"No shit" She whispered, unbelievingly.
Rachel laughed, "You should watch your language mommy!"
"Tell me you're kidding."
"No, it's true."
Annabeth put her arms around herself and caress her stomach, she got goose bumps. Rachel had seen her baby and that made her a lot more real. Like a lot more! If Rachel saw her then every little fear she had seemed to fade away.
"I wasn't going to tell you, but I had to."
"What, is it bad?" She asked concerned, her fears returning.
"Bad? Gods no! Nothing like that. It was just an image that popped into my head the other day. It was absolutely cute; you have nothing to worry about."
Annabeth smiled "What did you see?"
"Her, a few months old. She was sitting up, on a blanket at camp surrounded by toys...then a little older walking on the beach, that's how I knew it was her, Percy's daughter, of course she was at the beach."
"Really?"
"Yeah" she turned and started drawing again like it was no big deal.
"What did she look like?"
"She was adorable, she looked a lot like you, and Percy, but I'm not giving you details. I wasn't going to tell you, but I had to share it, it was killing me."
Annabeth felt her heart swell.
"Do you know her name?"
"Naah"
"Rachel..."
She stood up and cornered her to the wall and Rachel held her palms up
"Sorry, can't tell you! I would manipulate your choices."
"What choices? We can't find a name that suits her, we've gone through lists and lists and discarded them all"
"Oh, you'll find it alright."
"I'm dying to know" She pouted and Rachel shook her head at her attempt to get her to feel sorry.
"Be patient Wise Girl" Annabeth frowned.
"But what if...what if you're meant to tell me! Yes"
"No way, you know I can't. I shouldn't have told you that I saw her either, it goes against the rules. If I told everyone what I see all the time. Agh! Let's not talk about that, it makes my head hurt"
"Okay" She crossed her arms; she was getting the name out of her one way or another.
"Annabeth" Rachel grinned seeing that she was working her brain off to figure how to get it out of her "Its fate! You'll find the name, I'm sure of that."
"Agh! I hate that you know."
"It's good" she turned grinning. "Suits her"
"Stop!"
"Okay, I make you a deal. If she's like 10 days old and you still haven't figured it out I'll tell you."
"That's no deal."
"I won't have to, I'm sure you'll find out soon enough."
Annabeth gave up; it was probably for the best. She wanted to come up with it, with Percy. She smiled to her friend
"Rachel, thanks" she hugged her friend tightly. Expressing her emotions through it.
Rachel and Piper had been with her every step of the way. Lifting her spirits every time she got another negative pregnancy test. Shopping when her clothes started to fit tight. Even eating calorie after calorie whenever Annabeth had another craving, and she craved such bizarre things like watermelon and cheetos and chocolate smoothies with sushi.
Rachel giggled and returned her hug "You guys–gods, I still can't believe it. Congratulations, you're going to be so wonderful at it"
On Christmas morning Percy woke her. A million kisses peppered her skin. He was gently caressing the sides of her tummy, trying to pull her out of her dreams
"Percy..." She hummed turning her face against his body to continue sleeping.
"Come on Wise Girl!" He shook her awake now urgently "we have presents to open!"
"Percy it's so early" she complained.
They went to a Chrismas Eve party the night before, at Piper and Jason's, and they went home last, after that...well, Percy made sure they carried on with their own private party between the sheets.
"But it's Christmas, Wise Girl!"
Annabeth couldn't help but grin still with her eyes closed. The excitement was evident in his voice; he was almost jumping on the bed beside her.
She opened her eyes to find his green eyes looking at her closely, he kissed her nose.
She'd been woken up by her boyfriend (now husband) like that on Christmas morning for 6 years.
She sat up, rubbed her eyes and grumbled some more. He pulled her off the bed with a chuckle.
She went to the bathroom while he ran off to the living room in his striped pajama bottoms.
"Come on!" He urged.
"Coming!" She called and grabbed a hoodie and tugged it on.
Percy was sitting cross legged on the floor beside the couch and their tree, presents of all colors and sizes bellow it.
"Merry Christmas, my dear wife." He grinned at her.
"Merry Christmas to you too"
He stood up to kiss her properly and whispered I love you.
Percy tugged her over to the couch and he sat on the floor again.
There was a tray on the coffee table with hot chocolate and blueberry muffins and the cookies they made the day before, they were blue Christmas trees. All the arranged food made her realize how he'd been awake for longer.
She slipped to sit on the floor next to him.
"First present" he passed it over to her.
"From you?" She stared at the white envelope
"Of course, duh"
"What did you got me?"
"Plane tickets"
"What? To where? I can't travel, I'm seven months pregnant."
He rolled his eyes "Annabeth, it's not a plane ticket. Can you open it?!"
She laughed and shoved his shoulder. "Okay, calm down" she started opening it but he stopped her
"Of course if you don't like it...I mean, we still have time, and we can change it and think of something else. But I thought you might like it...we still can–"
"Can you calm down? I don't know what it is yet!"
"Yeah, okay, sorry"
She took out a small piece of paper and looked at him raising an eyebrow. He bit his lip and nodded his head for her to go ahead. She unfolded it and there was only a word written in gold on the centre.
Σοφία
"Um...I don't get it" she rubbed her eyes still half asleep. He grabbed the paper from her hand almost ripping it in half.
"What, did I misspell it...? No, its fine. What is it that you don't get? It's a name. I thought..."
"Why would you give me a name...oh? Oh!"
She stared at the white paper, it was not any paper. It was textured and nice...It had some little painted flowers on the corner, Rachel's work for sure. In the middle Percy's distinctive handwriting, clearly he tried to do it as neat as possible.
She took her time watching it, every last little curve of the letters. The gold ink that was in the rough paper.
Σοφία.
Sophia.
Why hadn't this name ever appear in the lists of names? In the books, on the internet...?
Sophia
Sophia: meaning wisdom, wise.
Sophia Jackson-Chase
It had a good ring to it. It was amazing...and Percy found it! She rubbed her thumb through the inked letters.
"I knew this was stupid" he muttered and ruffled his bedhair. He groaned for his own stupidity. "Um, Annabeth–"
She looked up and put a hand against his mouth. He kept blabbing under her palm.
"Shh," She smiled and hugged him, "I love it."
"You–you do?"
"It's beautiful Percy, I love it. It suits her."
"It goes well with the last name." He added with a little smile.
"Yes, I love it." She kissed his cheek and then his lips twice. "When did you find it? Why didn't you tell me?! I've been going nuts with names."
He smiled "You like it, really? I don't want to force you into it."
"No, no. I'm serious, it's beautiful. And I'm so jealous you got to find it and decided to keep it from me!"
He laughed and kissed her nose "I only found it last week."
"Where?"
"I...kinda prayed to your mom."
"You prayed to Athena? Seriously? For a name?"
"I kinda did. Not with so many words please" She smiled, she didn't get why he was so embarrassed about that, and she found it cute. But being well...Percy, Athena was probably the last goddesses he would or should pray to, she was always so harsh with him and he didn't deserve it.
"You better explain yourself a little more, Jackson."
"Well don't yell, but I wasn't working the other morning, I was looking for names in that book you gave me and I stumbled over Athena. But as much as I love Athena, you know...! Woooh so much, I don't think–"
"Yeah, no. We wouldn't be naming our kid after our parents, we swore."
"Yeah, so I thought...well, isn't she the goddess of wisdom and stuff...she sure has a few good names up her sleeve. It wasn't like a full on prayer but I asked."
"And she replied with the name?" Annabeth asked, eyes excited for hearing the story.
"Nah, she didn't say. I was actually quiet surprise she responded with anything. I thought she would ignore me. She only said I'd find it on my own that very same week, she even smiled, but if it wasn't for her I think I wouldn't have been paying close enough attention. So thanks for the heads up Athena, you're cool."
"Yeah, thanks mom. Now, who do I own my baby's name then?"
"A girl at the coffee shop."
"What?!"
"They called up her name and she looked...unusual. I liked the name so I looked it up."
"You were checking out a girl?" She frowned and Percy did not think the conversion would go this way.
"That was so not what happened!" He laughed nervously, his cheeks starting to dust red "I was not checking her out…I mean, no I wasn't looking! Like at all"
"I can't believe you."
"I swear" He laughed putting his hands up "I wouldn't have looked at her twice...if–well, if she didn't look so much like you, or the unpregnant version of you"
She huffed indignantly "The unpregnant version of me, huh?! Cuter and sexier you mean? Less bloated?"
"That was not what I meant at all, just...not pregnant, I wasn't looking at her that way, she was only a teenager. Don't make a huge deal out of this babe."
"Don't you babe me right now."
She pouted and crossed her arms that stayed right over her rounded stomach. Percy grinned thinking she never looked lovelier...the pregnancy certainly added this something to her appearance.
He hugged her and brought her closer, talking softly in her ear "You know how your pregnant self excites me very much...I told you, I don't know what it is and it feels really dirty when I think about it but you look so freaking sexy all the time, you have no idea. And you look extremely cute, really cute. I just want to touch you and hold you, and kiss you all the time."
He touched the sides of her pregnant belly.
"Really? I still excite you?" She was trying not to smile.
"Yeah, like a lot. You know...I think last night should be enough proof of that."
She giggled thinking back to their two hour sex session. "Okay"
"Silly, you didn't even let me finish! Think it was like a younger version of Athena or something. Sophia means wisdom. Isn't she like The Wisdom?"
"Yeah, I suppose so"
"That would explain why she looked so much like you...Except–"
"Except what?"
"Except she had green eyes. That's weird..."
"Mm?"
He grabbed her shoulders "Jeez, Annabeth! I think it was our kid...like in the future."
"Um, Seaweed Brain...I don't want to sound...discouraging? But, time travel doesn't exist, okay?" She looked at him as if he was crazy and patted his arm "There's no blue box traveling through time and space that's just Doctor Who. I don't know how you think that's even possible"
"No, no really! She did look like you Annabeth and she had my eyes. I think it was like a projection of our daughter sixteen years from now."
"Shut up. Are you saying our kid is somewhere in New York, already sixteen and ordering coffee?"
"Actually it was Chai Tea Latte, which you like a lot. Another coincidence? But really she looked exactly like you when you were sixteen..."
"Yeah, you said that. She was smocking hot" She rolled her eyes.
"You are still smocking hot, like when you were sixteen." He said and pecked her lips "You know…I think your mom did that."
"My mother...you really think–?"
"Can she do that?"
"I don't know, I guess? You never know with the gods' powers."
"She totally did then."
She got quiet thinking about it, if it was like he said, and she wanted to believe him, really! Then it surely was her mother's doing.
"I'm so intrigue now."
"Really if it wasn't our kid...like Hades, it might as well be. I'm not lying, she looked a lot like you. And I'm not saying she was beautiful like you as a pervert, she was only a teenager, I'm saying it like...like a dad would?"
Annabeth laughed "You better be, daddy. Whatever it was, I'll ask my mother."
"She likes the name." He said for Athena, "I do too; when the barista said it out loud it kinda felt right, it was weird. It clicked. Like I'd be saying it…for the rest of my life. Do you really like it?"
She smiled and said it out loud feeling it in her tongue, feeling all its syllables roll, making it sound perfect.
"Sophia."
She could picture herself calling that around. It had meaning, just like she wanted.
Wisdom was something she valued so much, but there was nobody to refer it too rather than that and its referent Athena (that of course liked it, she was The Wisdom after all)
Annabeth liked that there was nobody special in Greek myths with that name either. It was perfect.
"I do," she replied and felt her eyes watering "I love it."
Percy grinned and hugged her. "And I love you."
She kissed him "That was the best Christmas gift Percy, thank you."
"And how do you like it Sophia?" He asked and kissed the top of her stomach.
"She's totally asleep."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah, most probably. If not she would be kicking me or hiccupping"
Percy smiled fondly "Should we open the next gift?"
"They certainly won't compare to this one...but bring it."
"Okay...let's see, next present" he grabbed one randomly, big and wrapped in Christmassy paper with a big red bow. "This is from my parents" he said checking the card attached "This is for the baby, I'm sure"
"Percy all the gifs are for the baby this year. I beg them all Christmas was a second baby shower" he started tearing it revealing a box with pictures of babies using the thing.
"Well duh! They better be, we need a wardrobe to fill and toys, and so many other expensive things!"
"Great that you think that because my gift to you is two packages of diapers and some baby wipes."
"What, I give you our daughters name written in golden Greek letters and you give me a bunch of disposable diapers?! No play station four?!"
She laughed and winked. Percy whined like a kid.
"Annabeth!" He pouted.
"Think what you'll use more."
"The Playstation. Undoubtedly, the Playstation."
She leaned over and kissed him.
"You did get me the Playstation, right?"
He set the box he was opening aside and went crawling under the tree to look for her present. She bit her lip while he opened it.
"Annabeth!"
She laughed and tried to make a run towards their kitchen or the bedroom but she found herself trapped in his arms instead.
"You're in so much trouble."
hoozemy aka Emily is my beta! And this chapter is probably a lot better with her work, she knows what she's doing. Thank you so much Emily.
And thanks to everyone who offered. i hope you guys enjoy the chapters more now that they are gramatically correct.
There's been a lot of reviews asking where I'm from and no, Im not greek. Someone said my name is from greek origin but I actually doubt Maria is greek, I have no idea though. Maria is actually my first name but it works as a second name in my country so they called me for my second name. I'm from South America, Argentina. (bottom right country)
I hope you all have a good holiday and finished okay with school/work/whatever. I did okay in all my exams except one that I don't know what I got because the professor thinks he's funny, guys! he's literally waiting until Christmas Eve to upload the results to our college web…he's a fucking joke.
I can't believe the year is over already, it went so fast. (And I really hate that I haven't completed not even one New Year resolution, it sucks. I'm seriously not thinking anything to change for 2015 because I doubt it'll happen) how did it go for you guys?
Merry Christmas and happy new year!
Secret: Im writing my first ever percabeth AU, it's really hard but im trying, i'll have it ready next year…meaning in about a week and half. WTF
Maria