Kara held in a scream as they came dangerously close to drifting into the oncoming lane, but Percy reached over and calmly grabbed the steering wheel, directing it back into the proper lane.

"Easy there," said Percy calmly. "Both eyes on the road and your hands will follow where your eyes are."

"Y-yessir," Erica responded shakily.

"Relax kiddo, nothing to worry about, you're doing great," Percy encouraged soothingly.

Kara immensely regretted letting Martha talk them into this. Since they were in Kansas for Thanksgiving, Martha had asked for some help on behalf of a friend of hers. Her daughter, Erica, was turning sixteen that summer and had been having some issues with her drivers permit. Kara flew everywhere, and her own license had expired over a year ago, but Percy had jumped at the chance.

Percy's generosity and kind nature were some of his most endearing qualities that Kara loved beyond measure. But Kara was immensely regretting her boyfriend's caring heart at that particular moment. Three times that morning she had nearly flown out of the car to get them out of the way of impending doom.

But Percy, bless his heart, hardly seemed phased whatsoever. On the contrary, he seemed as though he were enjoying himself immensely.

"Keep it steady." Percy calmed. "If you're too tense, then you're just going to be jerky when you drive. Keep calm, you're doing great, see, you're keeping right between the lines, that's exactly what you should be doing."

In spite of her unease, Kara smiled. Percy was unnaturally gifted with children, which shouldn't have come as a surprise. He'd told her that he had once been a counselor at the Camp he'd gone to for demigods. Still, it warmed her heart for her to see him act so…paternally. It awoke something in her chest that she hadn't particularly felt before.

She…didn't quite know what to do with these strange feelings. She didn't even really know how to quantify them. All she knew for a certainty was that seeing Percy interact with that girl made her happy.

Deliriously so.

Before long, Percy and Kara dropped Erica off back at her mother's, the girl feeling infinitely more confident after only a few hours with Percy than she had after months of "legitimate" instruction.

The car was silent as they drove back to the Homestead, but Kara couldn't shake the feeling that she'd been experiencing since watching Percy with Erica.

"Percy," she said after a moment, "Have…have you ever thought about…kids?"

Percy glanced her out of the corner of his eye,

"You mean generally, or like having some of my own?"

Kara felt her ears burn a little, "The latter."

"I don't know," he admitted, shrugging a shoulder, "I guess I haven't really thought about it before."

"You haven't?" Said Kara,

"Well, yeah," said Percy, looking uncomfortable, "I mean…if I'm honest I never thought about it much because, well…" he hesitated, and even though Kara was sure she knew what he was about to say, she wanted to hear him say it nonetheless,

"Because why, Percy," she said softly, reaching across the dash to grab his hand,

"Because I didn't think I'd live long enough to ever have to worry about it."

Even though she'd expected it, the words hit her far worse than she'd expected. Percy had only still told her bits and pieces about his life from before, but it was more than enough. It was the story of never thinking you were going to live long enough to see the next day. Percy had told her that for an entire year when he was sixteen, he had been all but certain that it was his fate to die. To have that kind of a burden hanging onto his shoulders…

Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes and she fought in vain to keep them at bay. Her grip tightened on his hand,

"You won't ever have to worry about that again…do you understand me?" Her words came out almost like a threat. Like she was daring him to challenge her. Maybe she was.

Percy chuckled, and gripped her hand back, nearly as strongly, "I don't intend to."

Kara smiled, snuggling up as close as the restraints of the car would allow.

"You still haven't really answered my question," said Kara after a moment. Once more, Percy shrugged.

"I don't know," said Percy, slouching a little in the driver's seat as he continued to stroke the back of her hand with his thumb.

"I guess…I think it would…it would be kinda nice, you know? Have a couple kids…have a family…"

Kara unconsciously tightened her grip on his hand, as images of blonde haired, green-eyed children danced in her imagination.

"I think I'm a ways away from being ready to be a father," continued Percy, oblivious to Kara's daydreams, "I mean, I'm still in school, and even after I graduate, I think I'd want to be, you know, in a pretty stable situation. Have a house, a good job…stuff like that."

There was a strange edge in his voice, and Kara had a sneaking suspicion she knew why,

"I don't want my children to have to worry. I don't want my children to have to live with the uncertainty of whether they're going to be eating tonight. If I have kids, I want to bring them into as stable and loving a situation as they possibly can be."

Kara brought his knuckles up to her lips, a teary-eyed smile on her face.

"I love you, Percy."

He turned and smiled back at her, the sun of her life lighting up her heart like the warmest hearth,

"I love you too, Kara,"

It was at that moment that Kara realized something.

She was going to marry this man.

And the thought couldn't have made her happier.

AN: Much shorter chapter, but most of the ones in this update are shorter and fluffy af. For the moment, this will be just glimpses into their life together. Snapshots of what they have to deal with, their troubles, and their growing bond. Hope you guys enjoyed because these were fun to write. As always shoutout to Double0Sxvxn for being an awesome Beta and dealing with my bullshit and as always if you enjoyed this but haven't checked out my other work, give them a try you never know you might find something else you like. I'm also on discord now, where I and a bunch of other writers hang out, chat and brainstorm ideas, you just have to copy the link that's in my profile bio if you want to come and hang out with us. Stay safe, stay healthy and have an awesome week.

All My Love and see you next week,

LilDB