Poseidon's eyes opened, something woke him, he didn't know what it was.
Clank, Clank, Clang.
What was that? Poseidon rolled over in his bed hoping for the noise to stop, so he can go back to bed.
CLANG
He sat up, knowing we wouldn't get any more sleep until he discovered the source of the noise, he knew it had something to do with his wife as she wasn't in bed.
He begrudgingly got out of bed to see what on earth Amphitrite is doing. As he exited the room the noises became more pronounced and louder as he walked towards the stairs. He was about to take the first step down when Percy's door opened. Poseidon quickly remembered Percy's incident and his concussion.
"Go back to bed Percy. It's too early for you to be up. I'll talk to Amphitrite to quiet down a bit. Do you need anything?"
Percy stalled at the door looking at him. Poseidon was sure he was a sight since he just rolled out of bed. He ran his hand through his hair in attempt to flatten the hair that was probably sticking up.
Percy took a moment to respond, contemplating if he wanted anything "Just some ibuprofen and maybe a glass of water."
"Alright I'll grab it. Go back to bed" Poseidon let out a yawn and rubbed the rest of the sleep out of his eyes, before trekking back down the stairs.
Amphitrite was in the process of furiously scrubbing the pots and pans before slamming the pots back on the counter to dry.
"Can you be more gentle while setting down the pots and pans? You're going to wake the whole neighborhood with the ruckus you're making."
Amphitrite glared at him over her shoulder as he grabbed Percy's medicine and a glass of water.
Poseidon walked back up the stairs with the glass of water and medicine in hand. He knocked quietly on his door before opening it. He set Percy's medication and water on his nightstand by his bed. Poseidon offered Percy a hand to help him sit up in bed.
"Is your head better?" Poseidon asked in a low tone trying to be mindful of his concussion. He couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt as he winced.
"Not really" Percy mumbled. He carefully cradled the glass in his hands and took tiny sips from it.
Poseidon sighed at his discomfort, "Hopefully the ibuprofen kicks in soon. Maybe some more rest will help it as well." Poseidon advised before quietly exiting his room.
Poseidon closed his eyes before making his way back down the stairs. By the time he reached the last step Triton was already slinging his backpack on his shoulder and was halfway out the door.
"Have a good day at school." Poseidon called out, but Triton didn't acknowledge him and instead slammed the door shut behind him.
He's moody today, Poseidon thought. He glanced over his shoulder to the kitchen to find Amphitrite glaring daggers at him.
"Alright, what is it? You're clearly upset about something." Poseidon asked running a hand down his face in frustration.
"How very observant of you. There are many things that are upsetting me. It boggles me that you don't have a clue as to what."
So it ones of these fights then. He pulled out the stool by the counter and sat on it burying his face in his hands. He doesn't have time for this pointless game.
"If it has do to with Mrs. O'Leary then-"
"That's one of the reasons, but not the main issue." Amphitrite growled out while cleaning the counter.
Poseidon groaned, that was the main thing he thought she was angry about. He didn't have enough energy to keep guessing.
"Will you please enlighten me, dear? I cannot guess what's bothering you so much?"
She paused in her cleaning. "I'm angry on behalf of our son. First of all, you accused him of beating his brother up. You didn't even give him a chance to explain what happened before throwing that accusation."
"Well to be fair, he did beat him up before." Poseidon countered.
"Not on his own will! Ares was behind it, Triton was acting under his influence, Ares was the main instigator out of all that mess. You know that Ares is brilliant at getting under people's skin and to manipulate a fight out of it. Triton isn't like that, he would never hit somebody unless it was out of self defense. He was absolutely devastated that you would assume that he would do something like that."
"I was just looking for answers, Percy was unconscious and Triton wasn't being useful-"
"Wasn't being useful? Didn't he go grab you when he first arrived, rather than doing his aquarium duties? Wasn't he the one who drove your car closer so Percy had a shorter distance to go? What more did you want him to do?"
"Maybe I was being a bit too harsh on him. It isn't like Triton likes Percy, so it wasn't that far of a stretch to believe-"
"Why can't you love Triton as much as you do Percy?" Amphitrite mumbled, but loud enough
Poseidon heard.
"I don't love Percy more-" Poseidon exclaimed. "Where is this even coming from?"
"It's not like you forgot Percy's birthday before." Amphitrite grumbled.
Poseidon groaned in frustration. Of course it tied back to when he forgot Triton's birthday. It hasn't been a full week since he got back to New York, and he hasn't had a chance to make it up to him yet.
"And I'll make it up to him, it hasn't been a full week since I've got back. I feel awful that I forgot, but I shouldn't have to punish my other child for my mistake. Triton had you on his birthday, Percy doesn't have anyone else."
Amphitrite stood silent, continuing to scrub a nonexistent stain on the countertop.
Poseidon stood up and wrapped his arms around her. "I promise I'll make it up to him. I probably take him out to dinner next week to celebrate his belated birthday and his job. And just because I forgot, it doesn't mean I love Triton any less than Percy."
Amphitrite said nothing as she set down her rag.
"Alright, I'm going to freshen up and go get Mrs. O'Leary."
Poseidon hiked back up the stairs leaving Amphitrite back alone in the kitchen. He took a shower, changed, and brushed his teeth.
Poseidon went to check on Percy. He quietly turned the doorknob to Percy's room, he opened the door to make sure he was asleep. Percy was already passed out on his bed.
As he came back down with car keys in hand Amphitrite continued to be silent.
"I'm leaving" Poseidon called out.
He sent a quick text to Daedalus telling him he was on his way.
Poseidon was only seated in the drivers seat for less than a second before his phone rang. He pulled out his phone while starting the car up.
It was Hestia.
"Hey Hestia, you're up early."
"Hey Poseidon. Hopefully I didn't wake you. Are we still celebrating Percy's birthday today?"
"You didn't wake me, I was actually about to head out and grab Percy's gift, and yes we're still celebrating. Is it just you or did Hera invited herself over as well?" Poseidon grumbled.
"It isn't just Hera this time. Hades wants to come along."
"Hades? He knows Percy's here?"
"Everyone knows at this point Poseidon. Hera called everyone, even Demeter knows."
"Demeter isn't making an appearance tonight, is she?" Poseidon rested his head on the steering wheel. It would be a total disaster if Demeter showed up.
"No, she's not. Apparently Hera talked to Apollo last night and he had some interesting things to say."
"Yeah about that-" Poseidon kept his head rested on the steering wheel.
"Poseidon. What happened in May? Is it true that Sally is gone?"
Poseidon let out a sigh trying to collect his emotions, "Yeah she's gone. She died on impact once the car flew off the cliff."
"A Cliff? - I - We need to go over communication Poseidon, this isn't something you just keep to yourself. Is it true that Percy's also missing his leg?"
"Yeah he had to get it amputated above his knee."
"That poor child. How's he adapting here?"
"Under all the circumstances, pretty well. Except for the accident yesterday."
"I heard he got a pretty severe concussion. What happened yesterday?"
"He thought it would be a good idea to take the stairs with crutches and fell."
"Didn't he have an elevator pass?"
"He does, but apparently there's this teacher who got him in trouble for not taking the stairs."
"A teacher? Is this the infamous Miss Dodds, that I hear Thalia talking about?"
Poseidon snorted, it appears everybody but him knew this teacher. "That's who Percy said it was. I'm going to have a blast at parent-teacher conference this year."
"I bet you will. Just to give you a heads up, Hera plans on calling you. I barely managed to stop her from calling you last night."
Poseidon groaned, of course she will. He didn't know why he thought differently.
"Alright, I'll deal with her. Thank you Hestia for holding her off this long."
"Count yourself lucky, Poseidon. Let me know if you need me to pick up anything or tonight. I have to run to the store after work to grab something."
"I don't think we need anything, as Amphitrite already had plans to run. I'll let you know if she forgot anything."
"Sounds good! I'll see you later this evening."
"See you later". Poseidon hung up as he pulled out of his driveway.
Poseidon glanced over his shoulder to look at the backseat. He hoped it was large enough to fit a oversized Newfoundland.
Poseidon squinted at his phone. Did it say two cups of flour and three teaspoons of baking powder? Or is that three tablespoons of baking powder?
Poseidon grabbed the tablespoon and poured the amount he hoped was right. He was in the process of making blue waffles for Percy's breakfast. This is his first time cooking something from scratch in the past four years, and to say he was struggling was an understatement.
Mrs. O'Leary was camped out in the living room napping, not caring for the food preparation.
As Poseidon started the crack an egg into a bowl, his phone started to ring.
He groaned. That's probably Hera. He reached into his back pocket to grab his phone, preparing for a shouting match. His eyebrows flew of his face as the caller ID didn't show Hera, but his brother Hades instead.
Why is Hades calling? Maybe he's canceling for tonight? Which was perfectly fine and preferred by Poseidon.
Poseidon pressed speaker on his phone so he could have both hands free while mixing up the batter.
"Hello?"
"Tell me why I just got off a two hour phone call by our sister-in-law?"
Poseidon cringed at his brother's gruff voice filled with disdain. "I don't know why she called you? Two hours? Why would you let her go on for that long?"
"Let? I hung up on her during the first five minutes, but she kept calling. I even blocked her number, but then she started to call my work phone, and I couldn't block her number on that phone. I had no choice but to let her rant. Is all that I'm hearing true?"
"I honestly don't know what she knows? But to give you the short of it, Percy is living with me and will be until he's at least eighteen."
"Hmmph. Couldn't you just say that months ago, rather than have Hera blow up all of our phones in a span of twenty-four hours?"
Poseidon rolled his eyes, "Please, Hera would of have the same response even if I told it once it happened."
"It's probable. Though it would of saved me the countless phone calls she made to me asking if I saw your name at my job during the summer."
Poseidon jerked the bowl he was mixing the batter in. He winced as most of the batter flew on to the microwave and ceiling.
"She did what now?"
"She wanted to know if you were at my job. You were not answering anyone's calls, not even Hestia's. Hera was convinced Amphitrite murdered you since even Amphitrite didn't give clear answers."
"Hera thought that Amphitrite killed me and I was just chilling in your morgue? That makes zero sense!"
"It doesn't. I shouldn't have to be the one to reassure her that a living family member isn't dead."
Poseidon sighed knowing where the conversation was going. "Look, it wasn't-"
His phone vibrated indicating another phone call.
"That's Hera. I'm going to have to let you go to handle her." Poseidon said setting the bowl down to answer her call.
"Have fun."
Poseidon snorted as he hung up. He straightened his back out prepping for extreme distress.
"Hera. Long time-"
"You have some explaining to do Poseidon. It's been three months, and now I'm hearing from my stepchildren-"
He rolled his eyes.
"Percy you awake?" Poseidon knocked on Percy's door waiting for a response.
"I guess" a yawn came from the other side.
He's awake enough, Poseidon decided as he opened the door.
Percy sat on the bed with a brow raised. His eyes widen after he noticed what was in his father's hand.
Poseidon handed him the blue waffles he baked. "Happy Birthday Percy!"
Percy looked generally confused and shocked, "What?"
It was Poseidon's turn to raise a brow, "Did you forget it was your birthday? It's the eighteenth of August today. You're officially sixteen."
Percy blinked but pick up his fork after the revelation, "Did you cook this by yourself?"
"I did. But beware, I might have overcooked it a little. Amphitrite already left for work before I made it, so I had no supervision."
Percy snorted and took a bite. Poseidon stood stiff as a board waiting for Percy to judge his cooking. Is this what it feels like to be on the Food Network? Poseidon felt sweat dripping down his forehead, but to his surprise Percy didn't spit it out and disgust, which was a major victory in Poseidon's books.
Percy even let out a smile, "It's not bad. Why are they blue?"
Poseidon tilted his head, trying to pinpoint the exact memory when Sally told him "I believe your mother mentioned it once that she always cooked you blue waffles on your birthday. I wanted to keep somethings the same even with all these changes lately."
After the words left his mouth Poseidon wondered if it was a good idea to cook the same food Percy's mother used to make. Is it too soon? Maybe he should've waited another year.
Percy finished the bite he was chewing "Thank you! Is Hestia still coming for dinner tonight?"
"About that, Hestia called again this morning and everyone kinda wants to see you. I think we might have a bigger audience than just Hestia. Unless you want it to only be Hestia? I'm sure they will understand due to your injuries if you want a smaller crowd."
Poseidon prayed that Percy would say he only wanted Hestia over. After the phone call with Hera, Poseidon is dreading this evening. The last thing he wants is to be berated by his siblings.
"Everyone as in everyone, or just the usual?" Percy asked hesitantly.
"Everyone minus Demeter, Hephaestus, Ares, and Artemis. So yeah the usual."
The last time everyone was together was at his wedding. Percy was the only one who lived far away, so there really wasn't an excuse for them to visit, other than they didn't get along.
The last big gathering that took place was Hades wedding, everyone but Percy attended. Though Percy lucked out big time. Poseidon shivered at the memory, it wasn't a happy union as a wedding should be. It wasn't the time to dwell at Demeter's actions anyways.
"Since it's your special day, I remember you asking for something a couple years ago. I was hoping you didn't change your mind about it, because I got it for your present."
Percy wrinkled his brow clearly curious. Poseidon wasn't expecting him to guess it, since he has been adamant to not get a dog in the past. Poseidon hid his smile as he whistled for Mrs. O'Leary to come.
Percy was knocked down on his bed with a dog of the size of a small black bear licking his face. Percy made an attempt to block the dog's tongue, but he was too busy laughing in surprise. Poseidon whistled again and Mrs. O'Leary obediently ran to his side.
"The previous owner named her Mrs. O'Leary. We can change the name if you want. She's a Newfoundland, and she is two. You still wanted a dog, right?"
Percy wiped off his face, "Yeah. But I thought you said Amphitrite didn't like cats or dogs?"
"She doesn't. Though it took a lot of convincing to do on my end, we were able to agree on it. Mrs. O'Leary is very well trained. She is also trained as a emotional support dog, she can sense your emotions and can help bring them back to normal. I thought it might help you a bit after..." Poseidon trailed off not really knowing how to continue. He never really knew how to talk to his son about the accident.
"Thank you! Really, thanks!" Percy said holding out his hand for Mrs. O'Leary to sniff.
Poseidon nodded, "Yeah. Um.. Do u want to do anything today? It's 10:30 in the morning, we have time to do something. We have a couple movies downstairs if you want to watch them?"
In all honesty he didn't think Percy would agree, so it took him by surprise when he did agree.
As Percy and Mrs. O'Leary got comfortable on the couch and floor, Poseidon was flipping through the collection of movies.
"Alright we have Finding Nemo, Aqua man, The Little Mermaid, Jaws, Megalodon, Soul Surfer..."
Percy snorted, "I can sense a pattern here. All of them have a theme of the ocean."
Poseidon felt his face turn red. Percy wasn't wrong, they all did have a connection with the deep blue. It never crossed Poseidon's mind that all he likes was related to the sea.
"Oh I guess I didn't make that connection... Well you know how much I like the sea and all. But they all are one of my favorites, and come on you can't tell me that you don't like Sebastian singing Under the Sea."
"Alright The Little Mermaid it is" Percy said with a smile.
Poseidon was hoping Percy would choose that movie, so he gave back a victorious smile in return.
After the third movie of the day, the front door opened and Percy and Poseidon turned to glance at Amphitrite who entered. She held a sack full of groceries in each arm.
"Happy Birthday Percy! I hope your day has been going great so far! And I - Poseidon dear, what did you do the kitchen?!?" Amphitrite let out a yell at the end as she walked towards the kitchen.
Poseidon's face drained of color, he didn't clean up the mess he made in the kitchen. He remembered the spillage of the batter when he was on the phone with Hades, then Hera called which caused some batter to fly across the room.
Poseidon jumped from the couch and ran towards the kitchen "Oh Shit! I forgot to clean up the kitchen."
Amphitrite was standing there in pure shock at the batter catastrophe in the kitchen. There were piles of flour on the countertop, as well as blue batter stuck on the ceiling and microwave.
Poseidon distantly heard Percy hobble with his crutches to survey the scene. Poseidon was more worried about his wife's state after seeing the mess, especially since there is a dog licking some of the batter up.
Amphitrite's face turned from shock to anger to horror in a matter of seconds. "You are never ever gonna be left alone while cooking. You hear me Olympian? We are supposed to have guests over in less than an hour and this is what I come home to? Now I have a fricking dog cleaning up a mess!"
Amphitrite shooed the dog off and Percy took it as his queue to leave Poseidon to her ire. Poseidon grabbed a rag while his wife's eye was twitching.
He set to scrubbing the microwave as the front door opened followed by his oldest son shrieking.
"Why is there fucking a bear in here?!?"
Poseidon didn't tell Triton about Percy's gift as Triton always had this weird phobia around bigger dogs.
Amphitrite head snapped to the direction of the door, "Triton! Watch your language young man! Help your father clean up this disaster he made in the kitchen, before the guests arrive. For the beast that's Percy's new dog Mrs. O'Leary."
Poseidon grabbed another towel for Triton to help. Triton had his back pressed against the door, his eyes were wide and full of fear. "That is not a dog! That thing is way too massive to be a dog. I think whoever gave you this animal scammed you." Triton voice raised several octaves higher once Mrs. O'Leary stepped closer to sniff and greet him.
Poseidon tossed the towel to Triton before walking back towards the kitchen. "Nope. She's a dog. Now come help me clean this batter off the ceiling ."
Amphitrite had already gotten out a small step ladder to reach the ceiling. Poseidon continued with his cleaning of the microwave.
"You got it on the ceiling? How did you even managed to do that?" Triton stared in awe at the mess.
"It happened. Now go use that rag and clean it up. We have guests coming over in like thirty minutes" Poseidon grumbled.
Triton rolled his eyes, but got to work wiping the batter from the ceiling.
It felt like no time later when there was a quiet knock on the door. Poseidon let out a curse, both Amphitrite and Triton stopped cleaning momentarily to curse as well. Most of the mess was cleaned up, but there was still some spots with flour.
Poseidon quickly wiped his hands on a towel before quickly opening the door.
Hestia stood at the door with a few bags hanging from her wrists. She had her copper hair tied back in a ponytail and wore her charismatic smile.
"Hello Hestia! It is finally nice to see you in person again, it's been too long. Here let me take that for you." Poseidon hugged Hestia and took her bags and set them aside.
"Greetings well met Poseidon! It has indeed been too long since we saw each other last. We should try to improve on that aspect, as well as have better communication with each other and our livelihoods. Don't you agree Poseidon?" Hestia said with a smile.
Poseidon wasn't expecting to get lectured this early in the conversation. He smiled awkwardly and agreed.
"Absolutely. I am sorry for the lack on my end. I will certainly do better in the future. Amphitrite is cooking dinner, and Percy is over there with the dog. If you would excuse me I'm gonna continue to help Triton clean a mess in the kitchen." Poseidon said, taking his leave to clean the kitchen.
He couldn't get away from that conversation quick enough. He's never felt so contempt as to clean before. He almost kissed the rag as being the perfect excuse to hold off a lecture. Poseidon knew more lecturing is going to happen later when the rest of the siblings arrive. But for now, the silence is bliss.
"Triton, go stall your aunt while I clean the remainder of the mess."
Triton dropped the rag into the sink and made a quick exit. At least there was one of them happy to clean.
Amphitrite took Triton's place and got off the remnants of the blue batter from the ceiling.
Poseidon threw the last pile of flour in the trash when Hestia strolled into the kitchen with both Triton and Percy in tow.
"Hello Amphitrite. It just occurred to me that I haven't told you about the time Poseidon and Zeus attempted to bake a cake". Hestia said with a smile.
Poseidon groaned. Of all the stories it had to be that one.
"- So Poseidon decided to pour water onto the grease fire in attempts to put it out-" a hesitant knock on the door interrupted Hestia's retelling of a story.
Poseidon got up from his pouting hunch and went to open the door with a happy Newfoundland trailing after him.
He opened the door to find Hades, Persephone, and Nico there. Hades was the exact same since the last Poseidon saw of him; his longer hair was tied up in a bun, while a few pieces came loose in the front casting a shadow onto his pale face. Persephone was a sharp contrast to her husband, she was bright and full of life. He didn't think she would stick someone so cold and depressed, but here she is. Nico is obviously taller, and was looking more like his father each time he saw him. He's as pale and solemn as Hades, the life that he used to have was sucked out of him after his sister died. He was close to Bianca, he was never the same afterwards. It's understandable after what he witnessed that day, his grandfather...
Poseidon shook the dark thoughts from his mind, "Hades it is a pleasure to see you again. Persephone it is also great to see you, it has been a couple of years since I saw you last. Nico you grown quite bit too. Welcome, everyone is in the kitchen laughing at my expense."
"Ooo, that's my favorite activity." Hades said commenting looking Poseidon up and down. Poseidon lead them into the kitchen where the rest of them are at.
Hestia stood up to greet them enveloping Hades in a hug first, then went to hug Nico. "You boys need to stop growing so much. You're almost taller than me now." Hestia pulled back with a smile.
"I just figured out that Poseidon didn't tell his family about the time him and Zeus made a cake. So I decided to fill them in on it."
Hades snorted, "That's a good story. It seems Poseidon is making a habit about keeping everyone uninformed." Hades eyes glanced to Percy.
Poseidon held back a groan. Now? Poseidon didn't know why he expected them to hold back at least an hour before they started.
Percy, unable to take the awkward tension anymore decided he needed to leave for the adults to sort out their issues.
"I'm gonna take Mrs. O'Leary out. Nico you coming?" Percy asked pushing himself out of the chair and grabbing the crutches. He could feel the eyes staring at his stump, but nevertheless he made it to the door. Percy glanced back to see if Nico was gonna join him. Nico had wide eyes staring at his leg, but seem to snap out of it and made his way to the door. Percy whistled for Mrs. O'Leary to follow him.
Percy stepped outside and plopped down in a patio chair. The backyard was quite large, it was trimmed to perfection, and there's a decent sized pool in the right corner.
Nico stood there awkwardly, still staring at his stump. Percy squirmed under his gaze, "Are you gonna keep staring at my leg or..."
Nico snapped out of it and turned red at his observation. "Sorry it's just... Shocking." He cleared his throat and looked at Mrs. O'Leary who is happily sniffing the flowers.
Percy got comfortable in the chair relinquishing the shade a tall oak tree provided. He was surprised when Nico spoke again, unprompted.
"I don't understand why you didn't make any contact until just now?"
Percy shrugged, "I couldn't. My phone was destroyed in the crash and I couldn't get it repaired until last week when I was released from the hospital. Plus I wasn't in the correct mindset as you know… I - um, I'm still adjusting with everything."
Nico let out a snort, "No matter how much time will pass, you will never stop feeling the pain of the loss. You just get used to them not being there anymore."
Percy cringed as momentarily forgot that Nico was talking from experience. Nico lost both of his mother and his sister in tragic accidents.
Mrs. O'Leary trotted away from the flowers and stood by Nico's side after sensing a change of emotion.
"I didn't know you had a dog." Nico murmured petting her. She licked his hand in return before nuzzling her face in his legs. His demeanor change from his usual depressive self to something a bit more cheerful.
"Yeah I got her today, her previous owner named her Mrs. O'Leary. I'll probably gonna keep that name though."
Nico continued to pet the dog. It stayed silent for awhile, and Percy was thankful for the shade as it provided his concussed brain coverage from the sun.
The back door opened and closed, and Percy turned around in his chair to see who it was. Thalia and Jason stood there with frowns on their faces.
"We should probably stay out here for awhile, it's not going well in there." Jason commented looking at the backdoor, Thalia snorted in agreement.
"What happened to you yesterday Percy? You weren't in school today. If what Apollo said is true, did you go to the emergency room after school yesterday?"
Percy groaned, "I fell down a set of stairs after ninth period. I hit my head on the wall and got a concussion."
Thalia raised a brow not believing his story, "Apollo doesn't believe it."
Percy rolled his eyes, "You're going to take Apollo's word over mine? Have you not listened to the poems he sprouts?"
Thalia looked like she wanted to clarify more, but her phone buzzed. She took it out of her pocket to look at it.
"Is it Luke again?" Jason asked with a frown. Even Nico grimaced at the name from where he was rubbing Mrs. O'Leary's belly.
Percy's mind flashed to a Luke in his fifth hour. The same Luke who pushed him down the stairs. Percy didn't know why he protected Luke, maybe it was out of embarrassment that he let himself get pushed down the stairs?
"Whose Luke?" Percy asked trying to sound casual.
"Thalia's ex. Luke's an absolute narcissist and a jerk. He only thinks about himself and it doesn't help that he's the lead quarterback giving him a bigger ego boost. Let's not forget he tried to cheat on Thalia with Annabeth when they got into a fight. He's a vile man."
Jason said bitterly.
"Does this Luke have a scar over his eye. I have a Luke in my fifth period that fits that description."
"Yeah that's the Luke. And yes it is Luke who's trying to contact me. He thinks Percy and I are a thing." Thalia ended with a shudder.
"Ew. Why on earth does he think that?" Percy shuddered as well from the thought.
"I honestly don't know. I think the students were making rumors about us yesterday morning. I already told him we are cousins but he doesn't believe me."
Percy frowned, did Luke pushed him down the stairs in jealousy as he thought he and Thalia were a thing? He was pulled from his thoughts as the kitchen window was opened.
Poseidon sighed and raised his palm up inviting Hestia and Hades to lay it out on him.
"Why?" Hestia asked softly.
Poseidon raised a brow, he wasn't expecting that. "Why...?"
"Why did you wait three months to tell anyone? If it wasn't for Percy going to school, would you have told anyone at all?"
"I would have told you. I was waiting for things to settle down for a bit."
"You didn't have one second to send at least a text that you were not dead?" Hades sarcastically asked.
Poseidon groaned, "I didn't think you would of thought I died. It wasn't that simple to send a text or to talk about it at the time."
Hestia rubbed her eye, "Poseidon, you left us on read for months. We couldn't get in contact with you. I even called your aquarium after Amphitrite wouldn't give me a clear answer-"
"To be fair, I didn't know exactly what was going on either. I knew the gist, but wouldn't be able to answer the questions you would of had." Amphitrite chimed in, feeling somewhat attacked.
Hades raised his brow at that confession.
"Your own wife didn't know either!? Poseidon! Ugh, you know I shouldn't be that surprised." Hestia said.
Poseidon frowned. This was the first time he can recall that Hestia actually insulted him.
Another round of knocks came to the front door. Poseidon squared his shoulders up to prepare for his sister-in-law.
Poseidon opened the door. Zeus and Hera were in the front followed by Apollo, Thalia, and Jason. Hera had the deepest frown, "It appears you're not dead after all, brother."
Poseidon gestured with his hand for them to enter, not bothering to respond to Hera's comment.
"So brother, do you have anything to say about your long silence?" Hera continued.
Poseidon turned to Thalia and Jason, "Percy and Nico are in the backyard". Thalia and Jason didn't need to be told twice as they were already out the door by the end of his sentence.
"I think Triton is in the living room." Triton and Apollo aren't the closest of friends, but Poseidon was sure Apollo didn't want to be apart of whatever argument that's going to take place.
Apollo nodded his thanks as he got the picture as well.
"Yes, I didn't reach out or answer in three months. I understand now that was a mistake as they were misconceptions that I've died. I cannot change the past, so I'm not sure what you want me to say?" Poseidon said turning his back to his siblings.
Poseidon grabbed the cake from the fridge and started to prepare the cake.
"Well you could've just explained that Percy was in the same school as Thalia and Jason. They weren't expecting to see him there yesterday." Zeus said.
"I forgot they attended Goode. If I remembered that they were there, I would have said something." Poseidon said adding the candles.
"You have the memory of a dead fish." Hera grumbled.
Amphitrite snorted, "You're telling me. Did you know he has forgotten Triton's birthday this year?"
"Amphitrite!" Poseidon hissed glaring towards her to get her to shut up.
Hades and Zeus looked between their brother and his wife with an eyebrow raised.
Hestia stepped in and opened the window to yell the cake was ready, stopping further escalation.
Both Triton and Apollo hesitantly popped their heads in after hearing the yell for cake to make sure if the coast was clear. Once there was a moment of silence they sat at the table. A second or two later the other joined from the outdoors.
Poseidon was too busy trying to light the candles to catch Hera and Zeus staring at his son's injury.
"Percy isn't it polite to greet your family after not seeing them in over a year?" Hera commented.
Poseidon snapped his head up to call his sister-in-law out, but his son already beat him to it.
"I don't know, isn't it polite that you don't stare at a person with a disability?"
Poseidon couldn't hold back his smile. He was glad that Percy has inherited his spite.
Hestia snatched the cake from Poseidon's hands.
"Alright cake time!" Hestia said. Setting down the lit blue cake in front of Percy.
Poseidon joined in the song, as they were singing happy birthday. Hopefully there isn't any more fights tonight, it's the last thing that he wanted.
Apollo started off steering the subject away from any potential fights, "So Percy. How's your head? It looked like you banged it up really hard yesterday."
Percy shrugged, "It's a bit better. It's still painful but I'm not nauseous anymore. So I take that as a good sign."
Apollo hummed in agreement and continued to eat his cake. The room filled up with small talk, mostly Hestia asking her niece and nephews about school.
Poseidon and Amphitrite started to do the dishes after everyone was done eating. One by one did the guests leave. Hestia was the last to leave.
"Alright, I'm heading out. I'll talk to you later Poseidon. Happy Birthday Percy!"
Hestia gave Percy a hug and waved over to Poseidon who was still doing the dishes. Poseidon nodded back in acknowledgment.
Percy followed suit, he scooted his chair back. "Alright I'm gonna head up to bed for the night."
"Goodnight Percy! I hope you had a great birthday!" Poseidon said after putting a plate into the dishwasher.
Poseidon glanced back up after Percy left for his room. Triton was basically asleep in the kitchen chair. Poseidon glanced towards his wife who was wiping off the counter.
He lowered his voice as to not alert Triton to the conversation, "Did you really need to bring up me forgetting Triton's birthday?"
Amphitrite shrugged, "It wasn't like I lied."
Poseidon sighed. Of course that was her response.
Hades (God of The Underworld).- Owns a morgue and the lead mortician.
Everyone's Ages Again:
Hestia-42
Demeter-40
Hades-38
Poseidon-36
Zeus-35
Hephaestus-23 (yes Zeus was 12 when he had Hephaestus)
Apollo-22
Artemis-22
Ares-19
Triton-18
Thalia-16
Percy-16
Jason-14
Nico-13